Marching But Not Paying

It's tax frenzy week, and since I haven't blogged in a while, I thought I'd post my letter from 2003, when I originally decided to engage in war tax resistance. I'm writing a new letter for this year, so I'll put that up on Friday to celebrate the day itself. Oh, and BTW, the title is in reference to then-secretary of state Alexander Haig's statement in 1982: "Let them march all they want, as long as they continue to pay their taxes."

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April 15, 2003

Dear Beloved Friends and Family:

I am writing to you to let you know of a difficult decision I recently made. As of today, April 15, 2003, I am a war tax resister. This is an action I have contemplated for some time. I know not all of you will agree or be comfortable with my decision, but I hope you will read this message and try to understand the reasons for it.

After 9/11, I had a terrible feeling that the government of the United States would not respond to that tragedy in a way that would honor those who lost their lives. Unfortunately, my feeling was well-founded. In the last year and a half, we have seen the Bush administration use military force to invade Afghanistan and Iraq, violate the US Constitution by curtailing the liberties of US citizens and residents, and slash funding for social services in the US, including health care, education, law enforcement, and veterans benefits. I do not believe any of these actions have made the United States a safer place to live. Instead, they have concentrated power and wealth in the hands of fewer people. They have exacerbated hardships for those less fortunate here in the United States and in Afghanistan and Iraq, countries already devastated by war and economic sanctions. They have damaged the environment and exposed US servicepeople as well as Iraqi civilians to health risks from depleted uranium weapons. They have disallowed the Afghani and Iraqi people any voice in the government of their nations. They have caused needless suffering and death. And it seems they are not happy to stop there, as military action seems to be under consideration against Syria, Turkey, and who knows what other countries?

My conscience and my heart will not allow me to provide any more financial support for these activities. I believe all people have a right to have their basic needs for food, clothing, shelter, and health care met. I believe people have a right to earn their living doing work that does not contribute to death and destruction. And I believe we all have a responsibility to participate in creating peaceful communities and a peaceful world where we can live safely. In a country that directs so many of its resources to militarism and concentrates economic and political power in the hands of a few, these rights and responsibilities cannot be realized. I believe we will only be able to create peaceful ways of resolving conflict when we firmly reject even the possibility of militarism as an answer.

In the course of making this decision, I have gotten to know a number of war tax resisters. Many of these people have been refusing taxes since the Vietnam War, or even before. While my world view may not always agree with theirs, it has been very clear that they are courageous and principled people who have made a thoughtful decision about how they want to live in the world and they often have faced the consequences of that decision. I am proud to stand among them.

I understand that I also may face consequences for this action, and I am prepared to do so. When I feel afraid, I think about Iraqi children suffering with diseases that could be cured by a simple course of antibiotics--not available to them because of US-led economic sanctions. I think about Rachel Corrie, the US woman who was recently killed by the Israeli army while protecting a family's home in Palestine. I think about the hundreds of thousands of people all over the world who have lost their homes, their health, or their lives, in Kosovo, Palestine, Grenada, Afghanistan, Iraq, Japan, Vietnam--the consequences of US militarism to them are far greater than anything I could ever suffer as a result of my war tax resistance.

To differentiate war tax resistance from simple tax evasion, it is important to do two things:

1) Be public about one's resistance and the reasons for it. In this way, we demonstrate that there are choices about supporting war even though our resistance may take different forms, and that as individuals and a community we can work on finding peaceful ways to resolve our conflicts. I'm making my tax resistance public by writing you this letter.

2) Redirect the tax dollars that would have been paid to worthy organizations which work for social justice. Some organizations that I have chosen to support include:

Resources for Organizing and Social Change
P.O. Box 776
Monroe, ME 04951
invert@acadia.net

New England War Resisters League
P.O. Box 1093
Norwich, CT 06360
www.warresisters.org

National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee
P.O. Box 6512
Ithaca, NY 14851
www.nwtrcc.org

People for Interamerican Community Action
170 Park Street
Bangor, ME 04401

Honor the Earth
2104 Stevens Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN 55404
www.honorearth.org

Many of these organizations have a web presence and/or email capability so search them out or let me know if you're curious about what they do.

Thank you for taking the time to read this letter and please let me know if you have any questions for me.

Sincerely,

Amy