How're you feeling about paying taxes this year?
You considering your clever outs? Just saying fuck it?
If I had a dog, this might be worth a try…
It’s already April 1 and our taxes are due in two weeks. Usually I have mine done by now. Writing that check is always painful, but I console myself that I’m holding up my end of the bargain in this democracy—that we as a collective are getting a heck of a lot that individually we could never provide ourselves.
I dashed off the following very incomplete list of services that have been until now the envy of most nations around the world. Yes, I know that none of them are perfectly executed, and none are equally distributed, but still we get bang for our tax dollars.
Off the top of my head in no particular order, we have:
Highways, bridges, safe air travel
Clean air, water, and a safe food supply (mostly)
Military protection from foreign invasion
Friendly relationships with allies around the world
Access to goods from around the world
Access to and care of our public lands and parks
Affordable health care for the elderly, poor, disabled
Ground-breaking medical and scientific research
Reliable banking systems and monetary policy
Financial assistance for students who aren’t able to afford college
Learning opportunities for our pre-schoolers
Laws and regulations that protect us from malfeasance—personal and corporate (???)
A court system to give us a fair trial (???)
Taxes are on my mind because the last couple of years I’ve actually earned a good living (for someone who’s 85), hence I will need to pay more tax than usual.
Brief personal aside: I am still working because I love what I do and I love empowering my clients with an invaluable tool: personal color analysis. Thanks to it being a hot trend on Instagram and TikTok (although what I do is a lot more complex), color analysis is having a moment and I’m enjoying it. The personal connection with each client keeps me grounded at a time when I feel like the world has tipped sideways.
Regarding my 2024 taxes
So… the increase in my income poses an ethical dilemma. And you?
Under a normal administration, I am grateful for what my tax dollars make possible, for me and you and everyone else on American soil. I grumble, then I write the check and send it off.
However, as April 15, 2025 approaches, given the wanton destruction of damn near every governmental service that matters (and who knows what further wreckage President Musk-Trump will do, given 14 more days), I am extremely conflicted about paying into a system controlled by greedy power-mad vengeful clowns—FOR THEIR OWN FUCKING BENEFIT.
THEY DO NOT GIVE A FUCK ABOUT YOU.
No matter if you campaigned, donated and voted for Trump, he doesn’t give a fuck about you either. Unless you’re a billionaire, celebrity, or foreign dictator, he thinks you’re a chump. Tell me, what has he done so far that has been to your personal benefit?
A new report projects that the IRS is set to lose over $500 billion in tax revenue over the next tax season as a result of President MuskTrump firing nearly 20,000 IRS employees, affecting internal systems (well, duh!). People online are talking about claiming tax credits for which they’re ineligible or just not paying, because nobody is watching.
PLEASE, LET ME KNOW: What are your feelings about paying taxes this year? What conversations have you had about it? Let me know in the comments.
PUT YOURSELF IN THE WAY OF BEAUTY (AND AWE)
Please allow me to lift your heart with ten minutes of astonishment and inspiration. My younger son, Wylie Overstreet, makes gorgeous short documentary films to invite us into experiencing the awe of being in this place and time in the universe. You can find this, about TIME, and his other award-winning films on YouTube. Please don’t watch on your phone…his videos deserve a big screen and good sound.
I know I’m his mom, but really, really, his videos will make you feel better.
Now that you realize your life span is but a teeny mote, please join me at a protest or rally near you this weekend. I’ll be in Oakland. We CAN and WILL make a difference.
FIND A PROTEST NEAR YOU AT: fifyfifty.one See you there!
It’s a real test of our belief in our country to pull through. And our own moral values.
Exactly! I will follow the rules and send in taxes on time because I still want to believe this whole thing is going to hold together, and taxes are important. But it makes me SO mad, I don't even have words. Thank you for expressing it so well.