The British singer-songwriter Billy Bragg is also a political activist in the U.K., and the Manchester Guardian has this video of him recently standing on a soapbox at Speaker’s Corner in London’s Hyde Park. His speech to the assorted people gathered is about his decision to withhold paying his income taxes in protest over the British government’s mishandling of bonus money being handed out to bankers in a situation not too different from the egregious bonus scandal in this country. What I liked about his speech, though, is how well he explains the importance of taxes to society in general. Teabaggers and similar idiots in this country live in a fantasyland when it comes to taxation, and they have too many people in this country convinced that taxes are EEEEEEEVIL and that somehow everything would be perfect if nobody had to pay them. Bragg makes plain the value of the social contract not just for the general welfare of the people, but also as a political force. American government, even moreso than other democratic governments, derives all of its power from the consent of the governed, contrary to what the Supreme Court would have us think, and taxation is a direct tool of that power. Eliminating taxation deprives citizens of a necessary means of political control, which he demonstrates by refusing to pay his taxes. Granted, the efforts of an individual will never be more than symbolic, but it’s the little lesson in “Why It’s Important” that I wanted to share with you.
On The Side
- Only 159 Shopping Days Left!
July 19, 2010 | 11:12 amThe BBC reports that the British department store Selfridge’s will officially roll out its Christmas shopping season this year on AUGUST 2. But American retail chain Toys R Us has them beat with a “Christmas In July” sale that runs this week. (although, as far as I can tell, that’s just a sale and not [...]
- Anti-Social
June 14, 2010 | 11:32 amOn Friday, I decided to stop having Facebook scrape and post my blog feed. I just don’t feel like blog posts fit the very ephemeral vibe of FB, and, frankly, it irritates the living crap out of me when people post comments about the blog posts on FB instead of posting them here. I am [...]
- Tag, You’re It!
April 21, 2010 | 11:43 amIn my copious spare time, usually whilst sitting in the waiting area at Charlotte’s karate studio, I have been making slow but steady progress toward adding tags to all the posts on this site. As of right now, I have completed tagging all the way back to April 1, 2008. The current archive of this [...]
- Follow-up: World’s Shortest Man
March 16, 2010 | 1:49 pmJust the other day I posted about a young man from Nepal who was trying to get into the Guinness Book of World Records as the shortest man in the world. He’s only 22 inches tall, compared to the 29-inch tall He Pingping of China, who is the current record holder. Well, WAS the current [...]
- Top Ten Overdone Stories Of The Week
March 11, 2010 | 11:26 amboobcheese tickle fights child actor suicides Betty White Zombie Farrah Fawcett Canadian pissing habits that milkaholic Lindsay ChatRoulette whatever half-assed thing Google did this week out-of-control Toyotas
- Observe The Snow, It Fornicates
February 23, 2010 | 1:33 pm
Dear Harvey, Pete, Barry, Kevin, and every other weathermonkey on Boston-area TV: Enough is enough. The fucking blizzard was THIRTY-TWO YEARS AGO. It’s time to stop trotting out the same blurry videotape of cars stuck on Rt. 128 that is older than some of the people who are actually on your broadcast, just so we [...] - Follow-up: I’ll Take Menhaden
February 10, 2010 | 11:14 amI recently posted about the use of menhaden in making fish oil dietary supplements and the potential risk that poses to the entire Atlantic Ocean ecosystem. One of the alternatives to using menhaden for omega-3 supplements is algae oil, because algae is the primary diet of the menhaden and is actually the source of all [...]
- iCan’t Take Anymore
February 1, 2010 | 1:41 pm
It’s going to be a long two months waiting for the iPad to actually ship so that all the tech bloggers and their hangers-on will stop writing so much speculative bullshit about iT and turn their attention iNstead to some other thing that’s going to Change Life As We Know iT. Since you cannot click [...] - New Year, Same Old Nonsense
January 1, 2010 | 4:31 pm
Please, please, PUH-LEEZE stop talking about “What do we call the last decade?” Nobody could come up with an acceptable choice ten years ago, and nobody’s going to come up with one now. “Aughties” and “Naughties” are contrived and stupid, and so is the very idea that anything wraps up all nice and neatly into [...] - Tiger, Tiger Burning Bright
December 3, 2009 | 9:58 amThis week Barack Obama committed the United States to at least two more years of war, 30,000 troops in harm’s way for no other reason than saving face, and umpteen billions of dollars wasted FOR NO GOOD REASON WHATSOEVER and we are inundated with: Tiger Woods proving he knows how to put it in the [...]
-
Archive for On The Side »
- Only 159 Shopping Days Left!
Latest Flickr Posts
All Original Content Copyright © BrianKaneOnline
All Other Content Copyright © Its Original Authors
Built on Notes Blog Core
Powered by WordPress