By Tamara Cushway, Opposing Views
Refusing to pay taxes for war is as old as the first taxes levied for
warfare. Up until World War II, war tax resistance in the U.S. usually
manifested itself among members of the historic peace churches —
Quakers, Mennonites, and Brethren — and usually only during times of
war. There have been cases of people refusing to pay taxes for war in
almost every American war. In essence, war tax resistance is as American
as apple pie.
The Military Industrial complex is bigger and more lethal than ever.
The Federal budget for 2013 includes a breathtaking sum of current
military (Dept. of Defense) expenditures totaling $673 billion! (This
figure does not include Veterans benefits.) Here are just a few of the
deadly expenditures being made on your behalf by the US government:
- Billions to the corrupt Karzai Government in Afghanistan for the continuation of a war that fewer Americans support every day.
- Millions to unscrupulous companies like Blackwater, Halliburton, and Kellogg, Brown, and Root to occupy Iraq.
- Millions to funding of The School of the Americas where future
militarists are taught torture and state of the art killing techniques.
- Millions to defense contractors like Lockheed Martin (who
receives an average of $105 from each taxpayer) who make drones and
other weapons of mass destruction.
It’s time for all good citizens to say NO to the misappropriation of
our hard-earned dollars in order to slaughter innocent people in
Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Yemen, just to name a few of the countries
we are actively involved in militarily. We are not helpless and we can take a stand.
Here are eleven suggestions for what you can do to create change...
See also:
San Francisco-based criminal defense attorney J. Tony Serra speaks about
his political evolution, confrontation with the establishment, war tax
resistance, prison experiences. Filmed May 7, 2011, in Oakland, CA, at a
National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee conference. Hosted
by Northern California War Tax Resistance.
