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0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? subscribe | newsletter | deals Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » NEWS NOW Homeless-serving groups get together ... Hanson Howard Gallery in Ashland features bird art ... Ashland woman trying to save family in Kenya ... Homeless-serving groups get together ... Hanson Howard Gallery in Ashland features bird art ... Ashland woman trying to save family in Kenya ... RELOCATIONS Herb Rothschild Jr.: War and taxes Comment DailyTidings.com Writer Posted Apr. 23, 2016 at 12:01 AM Posted Apr. 23, 2016 at 12:01 AM » Social News On Monday, which was Tax Day this year, volunteers from Citizens for Peace and Justice, Peace House and Veterans for Peace Chapter 156 distributed leaflets at area post offices. We wanted to teach people how disproportionate a share of their income tax dollar goes to war and preparation for war. I went to the Central Point post office, because twice before officials there tried to prevent our distribution by asserting that the facility was off-limits to leafleting. We educated them otherwise, but I wanted to make sure they didn’t misbehave again (they didn’t). And I got the chance to hear what mostly conservative people thought about federal taxes and, by extension, the federal government. I’ll share what I heard, but first I want to talk about Nuremberg in the 15th and 16th centuries. At that time Nuremberg, Cologne, Strasburg and several other German cities were imperial cities. That meant their ruler was the Holy Roman Emperor, to whom they owed allegiance and financial support, but within their territorial limits they were sovereign states. They made and enforced their own laws, administered their own affairs, raised their own defenses and collected their own taxes. Inside Nuremberg’s city walls lived some 20,000 people. Beyond the walls another 20,000 rural folks lived under its jurisdiction. Annually, those living within the walls were taxed at a flat rate on their household wealth, including cash and possessions as well as real estate. (Next week I’ll consider the desirability of such a tax for our nation.) But the remarkable aspect of the Nuremberg system was that each household assessed its own wealth, then paid the tax by putting it, unobserved, into a closed chest. No official knew how much was being paid. A government that otherwise kept meticulous records kept no records of individual payments—only the yearly totals. Visitors often remarked on this display of civic virtue. Given what I heard in Central Point, I’m not sure how many Americans would pay anything under such a system. My spiel as I offered the flier was non-directive: “Today is Tax Day, so we thought people would like to know how their income tax dollars will be spent.” Not everyone commented, but the comments I did get all had one thing in common: no one expressed the belief their money would be spent on anything worthwhile. The fact is that most people have no idea what’s done with their tax dollars. I’d get comments like, “Not much,” “Waste,” “Nothing I want,” “The pockets of corrupt politicians,” “Welfare for immigrants.” I came to feel that I was doing everyone a service just by showing them the specifics of where their money goes. The citizens of Nuremberg behaved as I’ve described because they were patriotic, they believed their tax system was fair, and they knew what their taxes paid for. Conversely, most of us are patriotic in ways so crude they don’t move us to value citizenship; since 1981 our federal tax system has become increasingly unfair, and public officials make little effort to explain how the revenues enhance the public good. We need no more candidates who proclaim that government is our enemy. If that’s what they believe, we should make sure they stay in private life, for in office they will surely be our enemy. We need politicians who believe in the value of public life and will communicate it to their constituents. Herb Rothschild's column appears in the Tidings every Saturday. DailyTidings.com Writer Posted Apr. 23, 2016 at 12:01 AM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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