Thanks, Fellow Taxpayers
Everything that’s wrong with government can be summarized by a single sign that stands eloquently at the entrance to my neighborhood park. A plot of green with tennis courts and soccer fields for athletes and playground paraphernalia for junior swingers. I mean the kind that really like to swing. Cursed with a civic attitude that makes me wary of gifts from politicians, I note A boastful sign. “This playground made possible by the city of Huntsville and the Madison County Commission,” it says. Not a blatant lie - just a fuzzy deception. About as far from the truth as the mayor’s office downtown is from this suburban playground.
I think it’s the tone of our “governors” (using the word in a literal sense) that bothers me. Their proclamations of achievement. They are ignoring the contribution of me and my fellow taxpayers to this oasis. They forget that we are a society of the taxpayers, by the taxpayers and for the taxpayers.
The sign has it wrong. These few acres of athletic fields and tree-shaded green are “made possible” by three entities: 1) First and foremost, the creator of planet earth and its celestial companions. He instituted the natural laws that resulted in trees and grass; and sunny days to enjoy them. 2) Next, the taxpayers of Huntsville, who came up with bucks to make the sandpile, install the playground equipment, and carve a tennis court out of a grassy field. 3) Then there’s the construction contractor (who we hope is no kin to the mayor) paid by us. His men and machines did the actual work. Yes, the mayor, the city council, the parks and playground department signed some papers, but not one used a shovel to remove the sod and lay down the surface of the tennis court.
And the Madison County Commission (MCC) doesn’t drive a fleet of lawn mowers that periodically neatens up the soccer field. Not a single member of the MCC, who on this serene Sunday morning are still abed, has ever cut this field.
A more truthful sign would, shortly and sweetly state: “Paid for by the taxpayers of Huntsville”. It would remind all of us, government and governed, of our proper roles in the civic scheme of things. Of course, it still ignores you know who, the Mayor, But what's that old aphorism about fools faces and public places? He/she should never be mentioned on a public sign in a public place.
Comments (10)
Brad
It doesn't alter the fact that these people really think that their passive involvement and theft is the whole of the effort. Without such mindset governments wouldn't grossly overstep its mission.
Published: October 5, 2006 9:41 AM
Coyote
I would suggest a different sign:
"Paid for by the taxpayers without their individual consent"
Published: October 5, 2006 12:32 PM
rhu
Hi Austrian Folks,
Lucky guys! At least you do have a nice playground which justifies (part of) the bucks used to "make it possible"...
In some places - for instance Brazil, my country - money collected by the monster-sized government machine drains almost completely into the state-sponsored and -managed corruption schemes.
I wish only a fraction of the ca. 40% of GDP extorted from our labor as taxes were given back as "public" (hmmm...) health, education and other services we must privately purchase at first-world prices, after having already paid for them.
BTW, I'm glad to share with the Mises team & readers that, the first time I visited this site and got my interest caught by "real" Economics (ca. one year ago), I performed the quiz "Are you an Austrian?", getting 60% score, with a mixed proportion of Keynesian/ Chicago School influence - mostly owing to the massive local media left-biased brainwashing since my early childhood, and after daily therapeutic Mises reading sessions I repeated the quiz, getting 100% score!! Not bad for a layman... But there are still Gibabytes reading of your articles and e-books to get a clearer vision.
Thanks to all at Mises.
Regards from Rio.
Published: October 5, 2006 1:29 PM
George Gaskell
Towns have a way of announcing their crimes without the slightest hint of irony.
At the entrance of my town, right beneath the big "WELCOME TO _______!" sign, is another printed in red that reads, "NOTICE: UNLICENSED CONTRACTING IS A FELONY ..."
Unlicensed use of a hammer. To build things. For money. A felony.
Published: October 5, 2006 4:03 PM
Sione Vatu
Why not make up your own sign and attach it to the one that is already there? Your sign can show the govt did nothing except deceive and the taxpayer got fleeced etc. If build it properly it will be some time before they remove it and they will have to go to some trouble to do the job. In the meantime someone can call the local media and if you're lucky your point is communicated to many people. At the least you've pricked the egos of the local govt critters. They crave respect and affection and hate to be shown up.
Sione
Published: October 5, 2006 5:01 PM
banker
My favorite is when Don Young from Alaska wanted to build the $200 million bridge to nowhere and name it after himself. Or putting presidents' faces on the money. Pathetic, I don't know how these people live with themselves.
Published: October 5, 2006 10:02 PM
banker
My favorite is when Don Young from Alaska wanted to build the $200 million bridge to nowhere and name it after himself. Or putting presidents' faces on the money. Pathetic, I don't know how these people live with themselves.
Published: October 5, 2006 10:02 PM
Jim Fedako
I learned about the divide between taxpayers and government years ago as a youth living in the suburbs north of Pittsburgh. The county park has a fenced area that was off limits to us regular folks. The sign on the gate read, "Off limits, property of Allegheny County." To think I had always been taught the government by and for the people line. The sign was the dividing point between rhetoric and reality, as well as taxpayers and government.
Published: October 5, 2006 11:14 PM
Vanmind
"Dear citizen. None of this would be possible without us. Pass it on."
Published: October 6, 2006 4:34 PM
LukeFitzhugh
What about the audacity of accusing the people of Iran and North Korea of threatening other parts of the world with nuclear weapons by using statements like, "North Korea threatens to test a nuclear weapon," or "Iran proceeding with enrichment of uranium." It is not the people of these countries that are threatening others. It is their government, that is, their most powerful criminal gang. What most people want is happiness. But criminal gangs reduce the level of happiness, albeit to varying degrees in different countries, whether they be thugs on the street or "politicians." Let's start saying "The government of North Korea..." or "The government of Iran..." or for that matter, "The government of the United States..."
I wish not to be associated with many of the actions of the government.
Published: October 7, 2006 10:20 AM