What price are you willing to pay for membership? I belong to several organizations and most require dues for membership. We pay them because there is benefit to us.
I’m a member of AARP, and pay my dues without complaint because I like what it stands for, and it speaks for me and my needs. I’m also a AAA member and pay that membership fee because I see the benefit to me, having been the recipient of numerous tow truck visits over the years.
Many of us are members of religious organizations that require a fee or donation. And we don’t grumble, we pay the fee because that’s what is expected and we know there is a benefit to ourselves and to others. It’s our way of participating in the support of our community.
How about health clubs, like the YMCA? I know many people who are members and pay their dues without comment, knowing that they’re getting a lot for their buck. And how about golf clubs, tennis clubs, sports clubs in general? Trade and business groups? Academic organizations, buying clubs and arts guilds? Even the NRA requires dues to belong and millions of our fellow citizens are willing to pay, because that’s what we do: we join and we pay for the privilege of membership.
But when it comes to paying our dues as members of the American club, we balk, we complain, we connive. Instead of just paying those dues, we give those dollars to accountants and tax attorneys to whittle down what we owe to the smallest amount possible.
During one of the presidential debates last fall, the president bragged that not paying taxes makes him smart. No, I say it makes him a slacker, a “taker.” That’s what House Speaker Paul Ryan calls those who take advantage of all that this country offers while not paying their share.
Taxes are the cost of membership in this country we claim to love so much. And we certainly do express our love for it, for the flag, for the anthem, for the military, for the Second Amendment. And also for the First Amendment, which is the one that protects tiki torch-waving Nazis and white supremacists’ freedom of speech, but not necessarily mine or some football players I know of.
But why aren’t we willing to financially support this country we love?
Perhaps we’ve been brainwashed, having been told that government is bad and useless so often and for so long that we have come to believe it. Perhaps we just don’t understand that it’s our tax-financed government that provides all that we value in this country.
When it looked like we were going to lose the Affordable Care Act, people suddenly realized what was at stake and it turned out that they valued their health coverage after all. Not that it’s perfect, but it’s a big improvement over what we had before.
Our membership dues pay for the roads we drive on, the bridges and the tunnels. They pay for our soldiers and veterans and of course, the weapons and equipment used to protect us. I could give you a paragraph about what I think about those weapons, but I’ll leave that for another day.
Our dues help provide a decent life for our elderly and our disabled through Social Security and Medicare and provide medical care to those who can’t afford it through Medicaid. Some people call these and other support programs “entitlements,” which I think is just a snarky way to say that people in need are, in reality, not entitled at all.
What else do we get for our buck? Public education for our children, regulations that keep us safe at work, at play, on the road and in the sky, food inspections, drug oversight and regulation, consumer protection and financial oversight, crisis management and relief.
We’ve just experienced some massively damaging hurricanes and devastating wildfires, and it is our tax dollars that pay for the first responders, for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, for the National Guard, for medical care, for the equipment and goods necessary to help those so terribly impacted.
Unless, of course, you live in Puerto Rico and if you do, you might receive public scoldings about the costs of helping you recover. You might even be warned that the help can’t last forever. Unlike, say, if you live in Florida or Texas where those dollars flow without threats.
Let’s not forget police and fire departments that keep us safe, along with the emergency medical technicians, ambulances and hospitals. Yes, we pay premiums for health insurance, but the institutions that provide that care are regulated and some are subsidized by tax dollars.
How about those local, state and federal parks and wildlife refuges that we camp and hike in? They don’t just happen, they are planned and maintained by government departments and employees.
And then, of course, there’s science. Our tax dollars have financed incredible advances in all manner of areas, too many to list. But who do we think is behind the constant stream of data and information that warn and guide us in times of natural disaster? Scientists, of course.
I could go on listing the benefits we receive as members of this club, but I think you get the idea. I know that the tax system could be simpler, and it could be fairer if those who have the most, paid the most in taxes rather than the least. Unfortunately, the president and his party prefer to subsidize the wealthy at the expense of the rest of us.
But still, why do we resist paying our share?
There are millions of hardworking, undocumented people living in our country right now who pay their taxes without complaint, but cannot reap all the benefits of membership. Incredibly, they seem to know something we have forgotten, that the benefits of belonging far exceed the cost.
Karen Gardner, of Haydenville, a retired computer programmer, is a bird watcher, nature photographer and ukulele player. She can be reached at opinion@gazettenet.com.