Cutting taxes and slashing government spending has become today’s political mantra by our Rightwing political neighbours – but I suspect that most of them have just accepted this as a rallying call and haven’t really put too much thought into what they are proposing, exactly. Do they realize how much in our lives we either get directly from government action (health care, education, etc) or indirectly from government actions: policing, standards, rules and regulations. Considering all these benefits, and even necessities of life, ones we are getting from our government (no matter which political party is in charge), considering what we get in return, government is a great deal!
Disagree? Consider if we each had to hire a firm or agency to assure only our personal safety, enforcing everything from the rules of the road to crime protection. Hire a firm or someone to assure our personal well-being, by inspecting foods and setting standards for food, housing, equipment, no false advertising, no scamming the public? Hire, on our own, the protection all our assets need to be protected and safe-guarded, everything from our investments and personal savings, to protecting our homes, cottages, and other assets. These are just a skim off the surface of what a government provides us in modern society, with all its advantages and, yes, all its dangers.
Remember, too, that we live within a Russian-dolls system of government, from local, municipal to provincial to national governments, all with differing powers – and all of them needing public financial support – our taxes.
If anything, shouldn’t we be criticizing our governments for not doing more (not insisting they do less) and with fewer resources – our taxes.
It does seem a better deal to pool our resources, at least some of our income, so we can essentially hire the management, policing, and support services we require, all of us, at some time or another. We have such a government already in place and in action.
Naturally there has to be oversight in all this and our Rightwing friends are correct in insisting on more accountability – and more just plain wisdom – from our governments and its multitude of services and assistance.
Try imagining a rich country like our own left without organized management and protection because you feel our taxes are too high. Try imagining a rich country like our own left without the protection and policing that a strong, well-organized government provides – the Democratic Government of the Congo collects fewer taxes and provides what protections it can afford, and the country is crime-ridden and in chaos. This can’t be what the anti-government, anti-tax folks are demanding for Canada.