Taxes - a different point of view

Recently we have been hearing a lot about the Michigan business tax and local tax abatements. It was an issue that was brought up when Governor Granholm was here visiting a business here in Holland. According to our business community and Peter Hoekstra the Michigan business tax and local taxes drive business s away.

Let s look at this from another point of view. Taxes are like a membership fee. For example, any sports club needs these dues to operate and so do the (individual) states and its communities. Local taxes and business taxes are part of doing business. As a business expense they are factored into the final product and paid by everybody that buys this product /service, independent from where the purchaser is located – in the community, the state, the nation or anywhere else in the world.
The localities that collect the taxes are using these taxes to run the government, provide government services, build roads, offer education, operate airports, make sure that utilities are available, clean roads in the Winter, uphold law and order, provide supporting service for businesses etc. Without the service of local and state government there wouldn’t be any environment that allows business to operate efficiently. Since all our businesses take advantage of the service provided by local government, shouldn’t we expect them to pay their fair share of membership fee – say taxes? All the purchasers of the goods and services should pay small fee for the local government (the people) to provide these services.
Just recently the Supreme Court decided that corporation and businesses should be treated like individual when it comes to political campaign contributions. Why should the not pay their fair share of taxes. W e are not living in the dark ages anymore when only the peasants were taxed and the owners of the land and the members of government were privileged to receive taxes.
We the common people should expect from everybody to pay their fare share. The schools that we pay for with our taxes not only pay for our kid’s future, they also provide a well educated work force for the local business / corporate community. The roads are not only used to allow us to go to work and delvier our labor skills, they also allow the local companies to move their products to the final destinations and the paying consumer, and last not least, they allow the member of our government to take a pay home to feed their family.
Let’s face it, taxes are necessary and they are not the evil that many want them to be. The evil is with the people that politicize government for their own advantage or squander the taxes due to incompetence.

Do we ever learn anything when it comes to govern ourselves?

More than and a half centuries ago Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770 -1831) wrote: “"What experience and history teach is this-that people and governments never have learned anything from history, or acted on principles deduced from it."
Whenever I look at the people that we elect to govern us, I always feel our situation is getting worst as time goes by. It appears that nothing changes to the better – rather the opposite is happening. But, as we can see from above quote, there is nothing new to our frustration. It has been known for centuries and Hegel should be credited for being able to summarize it short and brief
What can I take form Hegel’s quote? Do I have hope? As a scientist I always believe that once a problem is recognized you can solve it or work towards a solution. When it comes to politics and government, I feel like all hope is draining from me. We believe that we are given a soul and mind by our creator that can help us to move mountains. Our creator modeled us after his image. How come that we so helpless when we deal with our own problems? We live in a democracy that is supposed to be the best and only form of government that respects the rights and dignity of the individual. How come, that we do not assert more power over the leaders that we elect, based on what we can learn from history? Are we powerless or are we simply part of the problem.
History is a great teacher. If we study history and put the needs of others and society in front or our individual needs, we should be able to change the world and make it a much better place. I truly believe that we made progress over the centuries past. The world has changed and is a much better place today that ever before. If we look back and see slavery to be gone, individual rights to be protected, the recognition of inalienable human rights, the Geneva convention, the retreating number of wars, the much reduced casualties in the wars we fight etc. – the times have changed to the better, But, we can learn so much from history and make the world even better. Why don’t we? I think most of the people simply have not learned yet to put their own needs and behind the needs of others. If we can learn to think first about our neighbor before we think about ourselves, we can move on and start to learn from history. If we can learn to first decide what is right or wrong and best for society before we think what is best for us, we can see the world become a brighter place.

My mom always told me:” With everything you do, think about how it will a affect others first before you do it”.
I thought this was just the teaching of a friendly old lady. Now I recognize how powerful this statement really is.