Saturday, September 4, 2010

Blog #6

It's 3 AM when a red bell begins ringing furiously. Instantaneously, the courageous men and women climb out of bed and begin rapidly suiting up. Within minutes the sirens are on and the firefighters are off to rescue the residents of a burning apartment complex. In minutes they arrive, and the fire is extinguished. Through the valiant actions of these workers, everyone is recovered alive. But these people's lives could not have been saved if there was no money to support the firefighters' actions. How is the money gained? Through taxes.

They are often vilified and complained about. For the grand majority of people, April 15th is not a day of joyous celebration. Letting go of one's hard-earned money is not easily done. But those calling for taxes to be lowered need to realize that they are very important and are necessary for society to function.

Cutting taxes does not solve problems. The California education system is currently very indigent. Classroom sizes have increased, teachers are being laid off, and there are oftentimes not enough books for all students. This is the result of tax cuts. Because of these tax cuts, education has been put on the back-burner in favor of other services. The future of California is being overlooked in favor of instant gratification of the population, and that hasn't happened either. The salaries of state government workers are being cut, and the needy are seeing their services reduced. All of this in the name of not raising taxes.

They aren't popular, nor does anyone like submitting them, but it must be remembered that taxes are the backbone of society. Without them, there would be no military, no public education system, and no one to help if an apartment complex burns down.

No comments:

Post a Comment