I will forewarn readers that I am not a political nor an economic expert and there could very well be some legitimate legal reason why the proposal that follows cannot happen. However, I am unaware of such a reason and think the following is a just and good idea.
America proclaims itself a democracy in which the government is created both for and by the people. However, the people are only directly involved in the actions of their government in that they have some control over who the leaders of the government will be. Once this decision is made, most other decisions are determined by those few leaders and their most powerful supporters.
One of the most major of these decisions involves taxing the people in order to pay for the various jobs and programs that are part of all other decisions. But if the government is truly empowered by the people to do this, shouldn't the people get to choose which programs their money will fund? Wouldn't this make the country more democratic socially, politically, and economically?
What I propose is a system of taxation that allows each individual taxpayer to designate what their tax dollars will be used for. Designations could go toward one or more of several categories such as education, social programs, the military, and city maintenance. So the areas in which people most want to see change will be the areas that receive the most money.
So a peace-loving educator might choose to use 70% of their money to support education, spreading the other 30% around but giving the military 0%. A person who dislikes the idea of having to give the money they earned to the unemployed could choose to give 0% to social programs. A person who benefits from social programs could choose to put their money back into that program that is benefiting them.
Much of the conflicts and points of dispute within our country would be reduced in intensity because people would be allowed to support or not support something based on their own beliefs. People would be less likely to avoid paying taxes because it would feel like taxes are giving them power rather than taking away their resources.
Such a practice would benefit the people and the country by allowing the people to speak with their wallets, which can often be more influential than their voices or votes. It would make it harder for small groups of powerful men to make decisions that go against the desires of most citizens. For it is fairly easy to manipulate or even fake moral backing, but it is much harder to fake or manipulate financial backing, as the latter is much easier to keep track of.
America proclaims itself a democracy in which the government is created both for and by the people. However, the people are only directly involved in the actions of their government in that they have some control over who the leaders of the government will be. Once this decision is made, most other decisions are determined by those few leaders and their most powerful supporters.
One of the most major of these decisions involves taxing the people in order to pay for the various jobs and programs that are part of all other decisions. But if the government is truly empowered by the people to do this, shouldn't the people get to choose which programs their money will fund? Wouldn't this make the country more democratic socially, politically, and economically?
What I propose is a system of taxation that allows each individual taxpayer to designate what their tax dollars will be used for. Designations could go toward one or more of several categories such as education, social programs, the military, and city maintenance. So the areas in which people most want to see change will be the areas that receive the most money.
So a peace-loving educator might choose to use 70% of their money to support education, spreading the other 30% around but giving the military 0%. A person who dislikes the idea of having to give the money they earned to the unemployed could choose to give 0% to social programs. A person who benefits from social programs could choose to put their money back into that program that is benefiting them.
Much of the conflicts and points of dispute within our country would be reduced in intensity because people would be allowed to support or not support something based on their own beliefs. People would be less likely to avoid paying taxes because it would feel like taxes are giving them power rather than taking away their resources.
Such a practice would benefit the people and the country by allowing the people to speak with their wallets, which can often be more influential than their voices or votes. It would make it harder for small groups of powerful men to make decisions that go against the desires of most citizens. For it is fairly easy to manipulate or even fake moral backing, but it is much harder to fake or manipulate financial backing, as the latter is much easier to keep track of.
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