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Taxes are Price of Civilization
Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote, “Taxes are the price we pay for a civilized society.” It is a quote that could raise quite an argument in today’s political landscape, but what does it mean?
Today as we argue over the size of government, we think of government as the services provided such as plowing the roads, or medical assistance for poor. Certainly that is piece of government, but the reality is that the civilized society that we live in is to a large extent the result of government and the taxes that we pay.
There is a tendency to think only in the present, and what services we are now receiving. The reality is that our country is the result of our collective investment from our nation's earliest days. Our educated population and workforce is the result of investment in schools. Our transportation system is the result of investment in railroads, highways, air and water transportation. Our cities are the result of local and state investment.
We all hear the argument that it is private investment that creates jobs, but we forget that it is government investment that creates the opportunities for private investment. In 1817 New York State started the Erie Canal so that farmers in what was then considered the west could move their crops to market, and goods could reach the farms leading to growth in that area. There would have been no transcontinental railroad without government investment. Would we be able to ship goods up and down the Mississippi without government construction of locks and dams? Would there be a Twin Cities today without government investment.
It is not just the infrastructure. Would we consider flying today without the FAA and its work to improve air safety. Without safety regulations, would the Three Mile Accident have been another Chernobyl disaster and central Pennsylvania a wasteland. I can only skim the surface in this space, but hopefully you realize that civilized society we live in today is in large part due to our local and federal government, which has been paid for with our taxes.
Yes hard work and private businesses are also part of the story, but you can just go to any third world country to see what the result is without quality government input and oversight.
Now you will hear from the No New Tax people that we cannot afford the level of civilization we have today. That is not true. The US pays the lowest percentage of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of any developed country based on data from the Heritage Foundation. Germany the economic powerhouse of Europe pays almost 50% more in taxes as a percentage of GDP than the US.
If we want the US to remain a great nation and a great place to live then we have to invest in it. Yes the Trickle Down Economics and No New Taxes people will tell us that high taxes are hurting our nation, but that is a lot of hogwash. Look around the world and learn the truth.
Posted in Fiscal Policy | Related Topics: Government Policy "No New Taxes" Income Tax Revenue Sources
2 Comments
January 5, 2012 at 9:26 am
This is excellently written. Our country is built on the “investments” we make in our future. Without ncontinuing and even increasing investments the US will fall behind and become third-world.
I am mystified at the selfish conservatives with no vision for the future. They want to reduce the debt…good, but then they want to reduce taxes…bad. We can’t have a country that’s free. We have been told by a stupid President to go shop when 911 hit. We were told we could engage in two war4s and not pay for them by raising ANY taxes, and most importantly, our country has developed a conservative “entitlement” class that doesn’t want to pay for anything, doesn’t want to serve in the military, but who want unbridled prosperity.
Our country hasn’t established itself as a world leader by people who don’t want to sacrifice for the common good. Our country isn’t me-me. It’s we-we.
KJC says:
January 27, 2012 at 8:20 am
Taxes are the Price of Civilization, and there is a lot of talk that dances around that. Most of it discussion the “how much” is effective question. Now we proven scientific analysis.
Much of today’s political tension is rhetoric over an assumption: does lowering Top Tax Rates drive economic activity for all, or not? Does Trickle Down Economics work? If you go back and look.. during the 50’s the Top Tax Rate was around 90%, now there are rates as low as 15%, as the wealthy have begrudgingly acknowledged during this election cycle. So, for better or worse, we have tried the experiment.. what are the results? How do we compare with other countries… especially ones that adopted different policies over this time period? Yes, what are the facts, not mere opinion. Here’s the link to the science and math on that:
<http://www.voxeu.org/index.php?q=node/7402>
So the “job creator” myth, that reducing Top Tax Rates would somehow drive the economy for all of us didn’t work. They even suggest that the Top Tax Rate might be at 80% for best economic activity.
Warren Buffet has been right all along.