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Taxes in Perspective

Guest post by: Kiven Wenman

Article Overview: Who likes to pay taxes? He asks rhetorically… I have never been a whiner or complainer but I have always been the first one to vocalize my displeasure about the amount of tax we have to pay every day, every week, month and year. The more money we make, the more we have to pay. But where does our hard earned tax money go? I met an interesting fellow the other day that helped me put our tax system into perspective.

Taxes in Perspective

Who likes to pay taxes? He asks rhetorically...

I have never been a whiner or complainer but I have always been the first one to vocalize my displeasure about the amount of tax we have to pay every day, every week, month and year.

The more money we make, the more we have to pay. But where does our hard earned tax money go?

I met an interesting fellow the other day that helped me put our tax system into perspective.

As I was walking from my home to the beach on a sunny White Rock Saturday afternoon I ran into a man with his two of four children looking for the path to get down to the beach. As I was going that way anyway I lead him down to the shore. This gentleman and his family were from the Congo. They had recently moved to Canada and he was looking for a labor job as he was a civil engineer in his county. Sound fair? Perhaps not but he was very grateful to be here.

He explained that he and his family left the Congo as it was no longer safe. People were being robbed and murdered because in his area, there was no law enforcement. How could a society function with no police force? Well, in order to have a police force, there has to be someone to pay for it. No taxes, no protection. That doesn't sound like a society that I would like to live in.

As we got down to the beach he asked me "How much?" "How much for what? "I asked. "How much to go onto the beach?" he again questioned. He was quite surprised when I said that it was free. You see in the Congo, you have to pay approximately $20 to take your family to the beach for the day. When we got the pier he again asked me how much to go on the pier? In the Congo the pier would be an additional charge as well. He then pointed to the pigeons and asked "How much?" "Pigeons are free if you can catch them but what would you do with them?""We eat them" he replied. Gross I thought...

Suddenly I didn't have such an issue paying taxes. In return I get a democratic government, protection from the undesirables, decent roads to drive on, lakes to swim in, parks to play in, mountains to climb, free beaches to take my family to and the list goes on....

I'm not saying that we need to pay more taxes as we still have money unaccounted for.

So now when I pay my silent partner each paycheck (taxes) I cringe a little less as I am grateful to live in such a wonderful place where you can be born poor and die rich. A society where I have all of the conveniences at my finger tips. A society where I can walk the streets with my kids and feel safe.

Thanks for reading....

Kiven Wenman

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Article Tags: complainer, displeasure, perspective, tax, tax money, taxes and your paycheck, why pay taxes
Referred by: http://jaykubassek.com



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