Taxes Are Not the Monster Under Your Bed
by Sana Sethi
When voters see a ballot measure aimed at raising taxes, they are quick to shoot it down. Their pen automatically gravitates towards the “No” bubble on their ballot. They may even be relieved, thinking, “That’s an easy one.” Colorado voters are no exception. Just this past election, Coloradans voted to reduce the state income tax by approving Proposition 116.
Politicians often use “They will raise taxes!” as a tactic to smear opposing candidates during their campaigns. And it works. Americans, as a whole, hate taxes. We complain about them, we fear the possibility of them being raised, we solemnly stare at all the minus signs on our paychecks with contempt.
We must stop vilifying taxes and look a little closer at what tax increases would actually do. Progressive tax increases are not about low- or middle-class folks emptying their pockets into our tax fund. They are typically aimed at requiring the ultra-rich to do their due diligence of paying taxes like the rest of us and giving back some of the wealth they couldn’t hope to spend in one lifetime, while so many in this country struggle. Take Joe Biden’s tax plan for example. Biden wants to raise taxes for people earning more than $400,000 a year, but it seems like just the sound of the phrase, “tax increase,” makes everyone start running around screaming. The vast majority of Americans would not see their taxes raised under his policy. But alas, the ever-so-frightening tax increase makes us all fear for our livelihoods.
The reality is, taxes are actually a good thing. They help us create a stronger social safety net to take care of people. Taxes go towards things like food stamps, healthcare programs like Medicaid, and Social Security, a program that has lifted millions of older adults out of poverty. With such profound economic inequality in America, the richest 0.1% making 196 times as much as the bottom 90%, we need taxes to do the work that we cannot trust billionaires to do on their own: level the playing field.
For folks who love to throw around the word “handouts” when talking about social services, let’s be very clear that it is often big corporations and the ultra-rich that benefit from the tax policies in our country while lower- and middle-class folks pour their incomes into the tax funds. The same funds, by the way, that give each Senator $40,000 to spend on furniture for their offices. Handouts are apparently just fine for the rich, but when addressing economic inequality, they’re seen as excessive.
Let’s also be clear that it is our system that makes it so that people need assistance in the first place. Our economic system, rooted in racism and classism, intentionally puts people in a situation where they aren’t making enough to pay rent and buy groceries. These structural barriers pervade many people’s lives and render them hopeless of surviving without social service programs. Taxes, which fund many of those programs, help us get to a country in which people can enjoy economic freedom and give them a shot at not just getting by, but reaching for opportunities that make our country better as a whole.
In a country founded on rugged individualism, it’s easy to forget that a government’s job is to take care of its people. But take a look at our neighbors across the pond. “Several European countries tax in excess of 40% of GDP, including France, Denmark, Belgium, and Sweden”, whereas “U.S. taxes represent about 24.3% of the country’s gross domestic product.” Those industrialized nations with higher taxes are able to provide more comprehensive government services, not to mention better and more consistent pandemic relief, than countries with lower taxes. The US has one of the lowest tax rates compared to any other major industrialized nation and it shows in our crumbling infrastructure, stagnant education system, and abysmal healthcare access.
Now, taxes are complicated. I can hear the snarky corrections being muttered from the Economics major reading this. Yes, there are progressive and regressive taxes, there are federal and state taxes. It’s hard to compare one country’s tax system to another’s. But it’s not about getting into the weeds on this issue. Looking at these facts, we can easily deduce a trend here.
America is falling behind other major industrialized nations in the quality of life its residents can enjoy. We pride ourselves as a leader in innovation and freedom, but without ensuring our social service programs are well funded through taxes like every other major industrialized nation, we will soon find ourselves left behind. The freedom we enjoy will not be so liberating when we are burdened by a lack of opportunities, medical debt, and food insecurity — things many people in this country are already struggling with.
Taxes can ensure that coming generations have bright futures with a strong education. They can ensure that healthcare becomes a human right for every single American and help us close the unacceptable income and wealth gap. In a country where one person is worth over $183 billion but 50 million people are experiencing food insecurity, it’s time to ask ourselves why. As the richest country in the world, why are we in this shameful situation?
Imagine a world in which corporations and the top earners in this country actually give a portion of that back to workers. We could become a more equitable society, with more opportunities for people to grow, learn, and thrive. We could address the plethora of social problems our country faces and maybe even turn to the rest of the world to offer a helping hand, since we are not only the richest country but also one of the most destructive. I hope the next time you see a progressive tax increase on the ballot, you pull your pen away from the magnetic force and choose to fill in the “Yes” bubble instead.
Resources:
https://inequality.org/facts/income-inequality/
https://www.senate.gov/CRSpubs/9c14ec69-c4e4-4bd8-8953-f73daa1640e4.pdf
https://www.thebalance.com/how-us-taxes-compare-with-other-countries-4165500
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/biden-tax-plan-comparison-trump/
