Taxes are the "User Fees for Civilization"

A post at Addicting Info lists over a hundred things we take for granted that are funded by the taxes we pay.

Here are a few of my favorites:

1. Do not use Medicare.

2. Do not use Social Security

5. Do not call 911 when you get hurt.

6. Do not call the police to stop intruders in your home.

7. Do not summon the fire department to save your burning home.

8. Do not drive on any paved road, highway, and interstate or drive on any bridge.

24. Do not ask for an attorney when you are arrested and do not ask for one to be assigned to you by the court.

36. Do not ask for FEMA assistance when everything you own gets wiped out by disaster.

52. Do not ask for help from the FBI, S.W.A.T, the bomb squad, Homeland Security, State troopers, etc…

66. Do not use Medicaid.

70. Do not ask the Army Corps of Engineers to rebuild levees when they break.

71. Do not let the Coast Guard save you from drowning when your boat capsizes at sea.

The fact is, we pay for the lifestyle we expect. Without taxes, our lifestyles would be totally different and much harder. . . .

The less we pay, the less we get in return. Americans pay less taxes today since 1958 and is ranked 32nd out of 34 of the top tax paying countries. . . . The Republicans are lying when they say that we pay the highest taxes in the world and are only attacking taxes to reward corporations and the wealthy and to weaken our infrastructure and way of life.

So next time you object to paying taxes or fight to abolish taxes for corporations and the wealthy, keep this quote in mind…

“I like to pay taxes. With them, I buy civilization.”

~Oliver Wendell Holmes

Common Sense, Civilized, Humane, AND Completely Unacceptable to a Large Swath of the Populace . . . . GO FIGURE . . . .

Here are a few excerpts from the proposed:

Dublin Declaration on Religion in Public Life.

 1. Personal Freedoms

(a) Freedom of conscience, religion and belief are unlimited. Freedom to practice religion should be limited only by the need to respect the rights of others.

(b) All people should be free to participate equally in public life, and should be treated equally before the law and in the democratic process.

2. Secular Democracy

(a) Society should be based on democracy, human rights and the rule of law. Public policy should be formed by applying reason to evidence.

(b) Government should be secular. The state should be strictly neutral in matters of religion, favoring none and discriminating against none.

3. Secular Education

(a) State education should be secular. Children should be taught about the diversity of religious beliefs in an objective manner, with no faith formation in school hours.

(b) Children should be educated in critical thinking and the distinction between faith and reason as a guide to knowledge. Science should be taught free from religious interference.

4. One Law For All

(b) The law should not criminalize private conduct that respects the rights of others because the doctrine of any religion deems such conduct to be immoral.

(c) Employers or social service providers with religious beliefs should not be allowed to discriminate on any grounds not essential to the job in question.

- Michael Nugent 

 Image via iSEI.