Forum Post: We 99% ALSO skip out on OUR Taxes !
Posted 12 years ago on Nov. 18, 2011, 9:59 a.m. EST by Rico
(3027)
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Our state and local sales taxes help fund our schools, shelters, and so forth.
How many of us THINK about that when we shop on-line and count the fact we don't have to pay our local sales taxes as a "benefit" ?
In addition to depriving our local communities the taxes they need to sustain services, we ALSO destroy all the local jobs associated with "brick-and-mortar" businesses. Some will argue that we DO employ the people at the warehouses of Amazon.com, for example, but they're now replacing people in their warehouses with robotic forklifts.
Bring back American jobs ! Buy local, buy American, press "O" when a computer answers the phone, and skip the computerized self-check lanes !
When we were kids, we used to rationalize our littering by saying "Hey, we're keeping someone employed!" lol, that's terrible isn't it? But somehow this post reminds me of that.
I do make the effort to shop local when possible. When I shop online I try to support the small sellers.
I am very addicted to those self checkout lines, but I DO spend my money at union grocery stores almost exclusively. We still have A&P in this area and they've been teetering on bankruptcy and are union, so I try to give them all my business. My one exception is Trader Joe's, they have some awesome stuff that we can't live without. I've heard they treat their workers well, even without the union, so I comfort myself with that thought when I shop there.
Yes, I am arguing for INEFFICIENCY in our economy.
Endless pursuit of "efficiency" and the lowest possible "sticker price" is what has driven many jobs overseas and eliminated many at home. We consumers need to think about the total SOCIAL cost of our purchasing decisions. This includes considering the jobs lost when we use self-check-out lanes, let computers answer our phones, and shop on-line without regard for the full cost that comes with denying our local communities the tax revenue they need or the lost jobs associated with "brick-and-mortar" shops.
Very very few people are employed doing things that actually NEED to be done. While a family once worked their farm all day just to feed themselves, a single farmer now feeds hundreds. The fact that most are employed doing things that don't REALLY need to be done is evident in the fact that the "mood" of the buyer has such great influence in the economy. There's no "mood" involved in buying things we MUST have, only the things we'd LIKE to have but don't NEED.
Given so much of our economy is driven by the production of goods and services we don't NEED, what is the point in becoming obsessed with efficient production of those goods at the expense of our communities ? Simple. It allows those who HAVE money to buy more shiny trinkets. It also, unfortunately, wipes out many of the low skill jobs (let's face it, we're not ALL going to become Engineers like myself) and, by creating a glut of low skilled labor, depresses the wages for those few can CAN find employment.
Read Vonnegut's "Player Piano." He was prophetic. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Player_Piano for a summary.
P.S. Good on you for being a SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE consumer ! Now let's get EVERYONE to behave like you !
why do i seem dumb? because I love people. Why do I hate wealth? Because I hate running. They only report it from their perspective. You only perceive from yours. Though I'm willing to bet that both perceive the other wrong.
Our taxes also pay for the soldiers salaries that protect our borders. They also pay for the programs that allow many of the less fortunate to get medical care - would you have a poor pregnant mother bleeding to death from a rough birth, in an alley somewhere because no one funded the programs? Would you allow jobless mothers and father and kids to starve because their are no welfare services to feed/ clothe them until they get back on their feet? Occams razor... nothing is just a simple decision. We are Americans and must govern our country with hearts, souls AND minds... We must stop allowing other to think for us. WE are the government, after all... aren't we?
Exactly! We need to become better citizens AND better consumers. The two go hand in hand. Per my post at http://occupywallst.org/forum/the-power-of-the-people/ , we actually have enormous power over our corporations if we would just THINK about what we're doing. Better yet, we don't have to ELECT anyone to use that power, we have it NOW.
In addition to being better consumers, we ALSO need to act according to our VALUES and stop avoiding our taxes. With this post, I just wanted to point out to my fellow OWS'ers that WE need to walk the walk too, not just the 1% !
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Betcherass!