Taxes and Virtue

Yesterday I finished up tax calculation and one-time-payment for this year. Of course that's not really true because of bi-weekly deduction, sales taxes and other taxes that I pay as I go all year long. But I did some rough calculation of my total annual tax bill and found that roughly 23% of my income is paid to the government.

Less than half of the people in this country work and only half of those pay federal taxes. So, three quarters of the the population mooch off of the one quarter of us who work and pay taxes. Nice. Thank God that I feel the love and gratitude of the moochers.

Now, of course, I shouldn't refer to retirees, children and the disabled as "moochers". The retirees mostly earned their entitlements, children will have an opportunity to either become a payer or moocher and many disabled are so through no fault of their own. But there is a good chunk of the population with their hand in my pocket that can rightfully be called a moocher.

Am I virtuous or a fool for being a lifelong member of the 25% that pay their way in this country? I really don't know anymore. And it depends on the day. For most of my 42 year work life I've felt virtuous, lately not so much. If I survive and can work for another 5 years, I'll join the moochers. It's the american way!

I've estimated that 31% of the taxes that I've paid are sales and excise taxes. I'd venture a guess that even the moochers pay some of these taxes using the money that they get from me. So no one escapes the government's all encompassing grasp. Even after I retire, I'll still pay as a moocher.

Since this piece isn't about gun bans, Lara Logan groping or my patriotic, Tea Party pride no one will ever read it. But I thought it and wrote it. That's more than most of the population of the future North Mexico can manage.