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If you think your taxes were really cut...

by Steve Dupree

Hey, reader! There is a good chance that you are an idiot. Luckily, I have a simple test to let you know for certain. Do you believe that you got a tax cut in the last few years? If you answered “yes” to this question, it’s confirmed. You are an idiot. Your government loves you.

The society of the United States of America specifically, and really the world in general, has certain fixed and unavoidable costs. Those costs may be transferred or renamed, but they remain and must be paid. Our economy is very complex in total and unlikely to be completely understood by any individual. Road/highway infrastructure is one of the most easily understood aspects of our economy, so I will use that as my primary example.

The construction and maintenance of roads and highways is an enormous expense that almost always has to be borne by a governmental structure. Most of us have no problem understanding that construction and maintenance of roads has an immediate effect on our lives. It can increase our commutes and level of discomfort over the (allegedly) short term, while the intent is to decrease our commutes and generally make things smoother in the long term. While you may like to bitch about it, this is a cost you really want your government paying, and so it’s a tax you really want to pay.

If the government were to offer an alleged tax cut, one of the pots likely to be used as source for this cut would be funds for roads and highways. That inevitably means less maintenance and new construction. Picture this: After a long, annoying winter, one of your least favorite things to live with are the potholes in the roads, caused by a combination of the temperature extremes, precipitation and chemicals used to keep the roads passable. Every day a pothole doesn’t get fixed, it typically gets larger and deeper, and more and more vehicles hit it. It may just be that your mechanic will get your entire alleged tax cut, and then some, just because you wanted that money in your pocket for a few more minutes.

That’s why I say the costs are unavoidable. You may avoid the specific governmental tax, but you will end up paying your mechanic, or you will end up paying more for a product or service, because the providers have to pay their mechanics. That’s right. If you aren’t the one that hits the pothole, you still end up paying the costs. It may not be obvious or even explained to you that potholes are the reason, but, trust me, your ignorance of it does not mean the cost isn’t there.

Now, let’s consider some of the other pots your alleged tax cut depleted. Utilities: Power, water, and sewage disposal are handled in a convoluted structure of governmental, quasi-governmental, and private providers. When your power goes out or your sewage backs up, if it costs you or your business anything, and it does, enjoy your tax cut. Education: If a company has to offer more money to get an employee who can actually count and read, or if it has to train everyone they hire to do those things, the costs will be passed on to you in the cost of the product or service. When prices go up, enjoy your tax cut. Internet, telephone service, military, police, fire, waste removal, park service, regulatory agencies and so forth and so on are all funding pots that your alleged tax cut came from. So if you feel you have to live in a gated community because you are worried about crime, enjoy your tax cut. If slow response of police or fire results in higher insurance costs; if litter accumulates on public spaces; if your air makes you choke and your eyes burn; if fires burn unchecked in forests; if drugs that might help save your life or improve the quality of it are delayed in getting approval; if your kid in the military is dead because of inadequate gear, enjoy your tax cut.

Luckily for you, you are an idiot. You are probably completely ignorant of any sort of connectedness in all the things I mentioned, and this article will not likely change that. You probably think that your alleged tax cut is a great thing, and you will never figure out that a thousand little price increases take it all away...with interest.

You are an idiot. Your government loves you.

October 7, 2004 • Vol. 14, No. 41 © 2004 Metro Pulse