Without taxes, America would be a Third World country

Each spring we all get to hear about something called “Tax Freedom Day.” This year it was April 9. Did you miss it? Probably not, because this faux holiday, created by the conservative think-tankers at the Tax Foundation, is really just an exercise in the hypothetical.

It works like this: Let’s say that beginning on January 1 of every year, every penny of your paycheck went toward your annual share of taxes. TFD would be the day – it’s in early April – that your annual tax bill would be paid off, meaning that every penny you earned after that for the rest of the year was yours to keep.

Aside from the fact that the Tax Foundation’s methodology is questionable – their federal tax rate estimates are skewed by high-income taxpayers and, therefore, do not represent average working Americans – their intent is dark and destructive.

What the Tax Foundation number-crunchers really want to do is foster the “us versus them” mentality – the notion that the big, bad government (some amorphous collective “out there” somewhere) is hell-bent on taking your money. Nonsense.

Democracy simply doesn’t work like that. In a true democracy, we’re all in this together.

A new scenario

So let’s turn the hypothetical on its ear and try a new scenario. Let’s say that, beginning on January 1 every year, every day is “Public Structure Freedom Day.” That means you are not allowed to take advantage of any of the public structures that are paid for with tax money.

You can’t drive on city streets or interstate highways. Public schools, colleges and universities are closed. Every hospital or health clinic that receives tax money has to limit its patient load only to those who can pay up front. Grandma will have to put her hip replacement surgery on hold. The labs that do cutting-edge science and medical research are dark. So are most of the sports stadiums, performing arts centers, museums and zoos. The nest egg that you’ve laid up in your local bank is no longer insured.

Public Structure Freedom Days don’t end until Tax Freedom Day – or the day when you’ve paid your bill in full for the amenities you’ve come to depend upon.

Ridiculous, right? That’s really no more ridiculous than the notion that paying taxes is a burden akin to being a post-Civil War era sharecropper – that is, you’re not technically a slave, but you’re far from being able to determine your own destiny.

The free-market capitol because of our tax system

Some conservatives would have you believe that America is the free-market capitol of the world despite our tax system. But the truth is, America is the free-market capital of the world because of our tax system. Our modern economy is what it is because of the public structures we’ve been building and maintaining for more than 200 years.

All of our major industries – steel, oil, mining, lumber and the like – have benefitted either from government-financed technological advances, free or low-cost raw materials, or out-and-out subsidies.

Our systems of highways, railroads and airports were all funded at least in part by our taxes. They make modern commerce possible. The development of the Internet, which has changed more than our economy, was also funded by our taxes.

Without our regulatory agencies, our water and air would be at the mercy of industrial polluters. And it works both ways – those same companies would have no legal protection for their trade secrets or from personal liability for their actions.

Without our public education system we would not have enough skilled workers to run our companies and industries. Without skilled workers we would also have few consumers, free market or not.

Without taxes, we would have little infrastructure and a very small percentage of the population would be able to read and write. In other words, we would be a Third World country.

Investing in public structures together

Despite our enduring mythology of Americans as “rugged individuals,” this country was not built by individuals acting alone. Certainly, many very talented and enterprising individuals made significant contributions. But we built this great country together, and we did a lot of it by investing in public structures together.

Taxes are not the penalty you pay for being an American. Taxes are the communal kitty that we all chip in to so we can accomplish great things as a nation.

Sharon Kayne is the communications director for New Mexico Voices for Children.