IT'S MY MONEY, DAMMIT!

Pet Peeve #2:   People Who Claim That Taxes Are Taking Away My Money

by Allen Kolmes
This claim makes a lot of superficial sense. After all, the money is essentially (if sometimes infinitesimally briefly) in the possesion of the person who earned it before it is forcibly removed (withholding) or semivoluntarily relinquished (payments) and sent to the government.

Where this claim goes seriously wrong lies in the fact that one's money is not earned in a vacuum. One's money is earned working in partnership with the system.

Take my own situation. I work hard, using skills that took me many many many years to perfect. And I am compensated very well for it.

But I am not the one solely responsible for my having acquired those skills. All of my education took place in taxpayer supported institutions. A significant portion of my knowledge was originially learned by scientists working with public support. Half of the insurance payments that ultimately make it into my paycheck is provided by the government. The hospitals I work in are safe and functional places to work because of government regulations and their enforcement. The roads I drive on to get to work were built by the government. Etc., etc. Without the government, my job would not exist. So, yeah, I feel I inherently owe part of the money I make to the entity that makes it possible