War Tax Resistance Talk

[please note -- this is Jim's personal position, not that of Plow Creek]

Part of a panel discussion at IVCC 3/31/03

I've been asked to speak a little living below the taxable level to not pay war taxes. Tax resistance has a long history as a means for grass roots movements to bring about social and political change.

But I think I'll talk more personally today. My father was in the US Army in WWII
and the Korean war; he became an officer. My mother worked in a factory making war
supplies during WWII. Growing up my dad worked for the US government and we
lived in the suburbs of Washington DC. The Vietnam War started when I was in Junior
High School. I supported it as protecting the South Vietnamese from Communist
aggression. In my senior year of HS the secret bombing of Cambodia became
uncovered. Soon afterward the National Guard killed four youthful protestors at Kent
State University. I was angry at this and joined in a student walk out and march the next
day. This allowed me to hear the other side about the Vietnam war and I soon turned
against it, believing that although some wars were justified, this one wasn't.

I went off to college at RPI in Troy, NY to study physics. I was involved in occasional
antiwar demonstrations. Later I changed my major to psychology and went on to grad
school in clinical psychology at the University of Cincinnati. But while at RPI I was also
active in a church youth group. Early in my sophomore year, on a retreat, I had a
profound spiritual experience, what was being called being "born again." Since then my
relationship to the Lord, my Christian commitment, has been the central focus in my life
-- what I say truly comes from that, although I can give what I feel are good rational,
secular support for my position on war taxes. Anyway, I soon became convinced of the
authority of scripture and so became a pacifist -- see my paper on Biblical Pacifism.

I do not support killing people for any reason -- the unborn child, the person on death
row, or one my government designates as "the enemy." I came to the conclusion that if I
should not kill someone, I also should not pay someone else to kill someone.
Approximately 50% of our income tax goes to military related expenses. The US spends
more than three times as much money on the military than Russia, China, Cuba, Iran,
Iraq, Libya, North Korea, Sudan, and Syria all combined. This great expenditure is what
enables us to attack foreign countries whenever and wherever the president chooses

There are Biblical arguments for and against paying taxes that are due -- I can support
those who choose to not pay what's legally due, but did not feel sure enough to make
that choice for myself. And if one illegally does not pay taxes, but is open and honest
about it, the government usually ends up seizing the money they think is due, plus
interest and penalties. So to really not pay taxes for war one can either deceive the
government, or not earn enough money to pay taxes. Early in my adult life I made the
choice to live below the taxable level.

Currently the taxable level is $7700 for a single person, $13,850 for a couple, or a little
more than $20,000 for a couple with two children at home. My family of four lives
comfortably on a little less than $12,000 a year.

There are other advantages in living below the taxable level. A higher income usually
means higher spending. This creates the demand for more energy. And our recent wars
often seem to be related to oil. Greater consumption of resources, meaning greater
environmental destruction, also results from higher spending.

To decide not to pay taxes does to some extent direct the course of one’s career. How
has this affected my life? I have not held a high-level professional job. My parents
expressed their concern about my professional development. But I’ve had many
opportunities. I have worked doing psychotherapy; doing counseling jobs with troubled
youth, ex-convicts and homeless people; leading growth through stress wilderness trips
in the Sierras, as a bookkeeper, as secretary-treasurer of a 501(c)(3) not profit
organization, a computer programer, a volunteer coordinator for an NGO working with
refugees, doing a variety of construction work: carpentry, electrical work, & plumbing,
taught English as a second language, organic gardening and sustainable farming.
Recently I have been doing web site design. I have homeschooled my two sons, now in
5th and 10th grades, since they started school. Some work has been volunteer work
with just a small stipend, some work part-time. I have been active in a number of peace
and social justice causes. Life has been varied and interesting.

Living below the taxable level does require some efforts to be frugal, but my family's
lifestyle is far from impoverished; we still live richly, maybe too richly, if we consider
the level at which most of the world lives. We have traveled over much of the US. We
have a warm comfortable place to live, a car, a couple computers, high speed Internet
access, bikes, a canoe, too many clothes and more than a thousand books. We eat well
and are not even vegetarians.

This does not make me free of guilt from our nation’s crimes. We do pay the Social
Security taxes which should go to help the elderly and disabled even though we know
some of these taxes are borrowed to pay for military expenses. We try to vote as wisely
as we can, but people we have voted for have then voted money for killing people or
even ordered the killing of people.

I believe not paying taxes for war has been the right choice for me and would encourage
others who believe that evil is being done by the US government to consider doing the
same. Not paying the federal phone tax is a symbolic, low risk, low impact way to start.
Consider living below the taxable level.

For more information on war tax resistance, visit:

War Resisters League

http://www.warresisters.org, and a pie chart showing where tax money goes at http://www.warresisters.org/piechart.htm,

National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee
http://www.nwtrcc.org/

National Campaign for a Peace Tax Fund
http://www.peacetaxfund.org/

"Dollar Dissent: Tax Resisters Chip Away at Bush's War Chest"
by Chisun Lee
http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0314/lee.php

and a parable Jim wrote: The Parable of the AK-47

return to Foxvog page. Email Jim with comments or questions.

Plow Creek Site Outline | Plow Creek Home Page


	War Tax Resistance - Personal Testimony by Jim Foxvog Plow Creek home page \| Foxvog page \| People Jim's Peacemaking \| War tax resistance testimony \| Parable of the AK-47 [please note -- this is Jim's personal position, not that of Plow Creek] Part of a panel discussion at IVCC 3/31/03 I've been asked to speak a little living below the taxable level to not pay war taxes. Tax resistance has a long history as a means for grass roots movements to bring about social and political change. But I think I'll talk more personally today. My father was in the US Army in WWII and the Korean war; he became an officer. My mother worked in a factory making war supplies during WWII. Growing up my dad worked for the US government and we lived in the suburbs of Washington DC. The Vietnam War started when I was in Junior High School. I supported it as protecting the South Vietnamese from Communist aggression. In my senior year of HS the secret bombing of Cambodia became uncovered. Soon afterward the National Guard killed four youthful protestors at Kent State University. I was angry at this and joined in a student walk out and march the next day. This allowed me to hear the other side about the Vietnam war and I soon turned against it, believing that although some wars were justified, this one wasn't. I went off to college at RPI in Troy, NY to study physics. I was involved in occasional antiwar demonstrations. Later I changed my major to psychology and went on to grad school in clinical psychology at the University of Cincinnati. But while at RPI I was also active in a church youth group. Early in my sophomore year, on a retreat, I had a profound spiritual experience, what was being called being "born again." Since then my relationship to the Lord, my Christian commitment, has been the central focus in my life -- what I say truly comes from that, although I can give what I feel are good rational, secular support for my position on war taxes. Anyway, I soon became convinced of the authority of scripture and so became a pacifist -- see my paper on Biblical Pacifism. I do not support killing people for any reason -- the unborn child, the person on death row, or one my government designates as "the enemy." I came to the conclusion that if I should not kill someone, I also should not pay someone else to kill someone. Approximately 50% of our income tax goes to military related expenses. The US spends more than three times as much money on the military than Russia, China, Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Libya, North Korea, Sudan, and Syria all combined. This great expenditure is what enables us to attack foreign countries whenever and wherever the president chooses There are Biblical arguments for and against paying taxes that are due -- I can support those who choose to not pay what's legally due, but did not feel sure enough to make that choice for myself. And if one illegally does not pay taxes, but is open and honest about it, the government usually ends up seizing the money they think is due, plus interest and penalties. So to really not pay taxes for war one can either deceive the government, or not earn enough money to pay taxes. Early in my adult life I made the choice to live below the taxable level. Currently the taxable level is $7700 for a single person, $13,850 for a couple, or a little more than $20,000 for a couple with two children at home. My family of four lives comfortably on a little less than $12,000 a year. There are other advantages in living below the taxable level. A higher income usually means higher spending. This creates the demand for more energy. And our recent wars often seem to be related to oil. Greater consumption of resources, meaning greater environmental destruction, also results from higher spending. To decide not to pay taxes does to some extent direct the course of one’s career. How has this affected my life? I have not held a high-level professional job. My parents expressed their concern about my professional development. But I’ve had many opportunities. I have worked doing psychotherapy; doing counseling jobs with troubled youth, ex-convicts and homeless people; leading growth through stress wilderness trips in the Sierras, as a bookkeeper, as secretary-treasurer of a 501(c)(3) not profit organization, a computer programer, a volunteer coordinator for an NGO working with refugees, doing a variety of construction work: carpentry, electrical work, & plumbing, taught English as a second language, organic gardening and sustainable farming. Recently I have been doing web site design. I have homeschooled my two sons, now in 5th and 10th grades, since they started school. Some work has been volunteer work with just a small stipend, some work part-time. I have been active in a number of peace and social justice causes. Life has been varied and interesting. Living below the taxable level does require some efforts to be frugal, but my family's lifestyle is far from impoverished; we still live richly, maybe too richly, if we consider the level at which most of the world lives. We have traveled over much of the US. We have a warm comfortable place to live, a car, a couple computers, high speed Internet access, bikes, a canoe, too many clothes and more than a thousand books. We eat well and are not even vegetarians. This does not make me free of guilt from our nation’s crimes. We do pay the Social Security taxes which should go to help the elderly and disabled even though we know some of these taxes are borrowed to pay for military expenses. We try to vote as wisely as we can, but people we have voted for have then voted money for killing people or even ordered the killing of people. I believe not paying taxes for war has been the right choice for me and would encourage others who believe that evil is being done by the US government to consider doing the same. Not paying the federal phone tax is a symbolic, low risk, low impact way to start. Consider living below the taxable level. For more information on war tax resistance, visit: War Resisters League http://www.warresisters.org, and a pie chart showing where tax money goes at http://www.warresisters.org/piechart.htm, National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee http://www.nwtrcc.org/ National Campaign for a Peace Tax Fund http://www.peacetaxfund.org/ "Dollar Dissent: Tax Resisters Chip Away at Bush's War Chest" by Chisun Lee http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0314/lee.php and a parable Jim wrote: The Parable of the AK-47 return to Foxvog page. Email Jim with comments or questions. Plow Creek Site Outline \| Plow Creek Home Page