Robert Forrest "On Taxes."

David Broder’s article "Making taxes a good issue for Democrats", which appeared in the Santa Rosa Press Democrat, Sunday July 27, 2003, ended with, "The conventional wisdom is that taxes are a loser for Democrats, a subject they should avoid. Someone may decide it's time to challenge the theory".

No one likes to be taxed, but perhaps Americans, or the Press should promote a more objective view of taxation. President Bush says that tax refunds "give people back their own money". The implication is, that the more money they have, the better their lives will be. If life were only that simple. If only for the sake of argument, to clarify issues, there should be a change of emphasis.

In our technological society the material well-being of the individual depends on the availability of useful goods and services.The commodities and durable goods that make our lives comfortable, are produced by converting basic raw materials into useful products. If we have the engineering know-how we can build factories and train workers. If we have the raw materials, producing what we would like to have is largely an engineering problem. Money is a necessary tool in organizing the complexly interrelated activities of a modern technological society. It is a necessary tool in the organization of production and distribution of useful goods. But it should be emphasized that it is the goods that count. We do not eat money, wear paper clothing, nor live in houses made of dollar bills. Organizing a successful society is extremely difficult and one should beware of simplistic theories.

The members of a modern technological society are, of necessity, specialists and dependent on one another. That means they have to cooperate. The rules of cooperation are essentially what self-government should be. Clichés about the government being the problem are naive. Most families try to plan for the future. They try to provide for their children's education, try to keep their belongings in working condition, and safeguard their health. In an analogous way a nation should educate its citizens, maintain and develop its technological infrastructure, maintain and recycle its natural resources, maintain the health of its citizens, and so forth. Safeguarding the environment, controlling pollution, conserving and recycling resources and raw materials, educating workers, and building and maintaining industry are long term projects necessary in building a sustainable society. Those that may not be immediately profitable must be undertaken by the citizenry cooperatively, that is to say, organized on a governmental level.

In our economy taxes would provide the money to organize those efforts that are necessary but not immediately profitable. Private entrepreneurs, working in a competitive environment cannot be asked to undertake efforts with payoffs deferred for decades. Lower taxes are arguably of immediate benefit to many individuals. One can also save money by not changing the oil in one’s car. If "government", (the collective society) saves money by not spending on education, research, health, environmental protection, the production of useful goods will eventually decline. What should be emphasized is that the production of useful goods and their equitable distribution is what is important for the well-being of the individual (in a rich country there should be enough for all). Money is important as a tool to organize productive work and the distribution of useful goods and services, but in itself it is hardly worth the paper it is printed on.

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