I received a new real estate tax bill in the mail and saw to my chagrin that over 60% of it is earmarked for our town's public school system.
Now, a couple of preliminary points:
1. The government should not be in the educational business. Nothing in our Constitution to sustain it. And turning the decision as to what should be taught our children over to politicos untrained in education is as foolish and dangerous as is imaginable.
2. All taxes are a forceful taking of property and a violation of our Constitutionally-protected rights.
3. It is illogical to ask "What is the right way to do something wrong?" E.g., what is the proper length of a lynch mob's rope?
Having said all that, I now say this: It is an absurdity that I be required to pay for the public school system when I have no kids in school. My family is not using this "free" government service. Ignoring #3 above, those that are using the service should pay for it, no? Should I pay highway tolls when I don't ride the highways? Ignoring #3 again, the government should charge those who avail themselves of government services, and not those who don't.
Further: does it make any sense that the higher the value of one's real property, the more one pays for the schools (and everything else). The two are not connected. One could be a multimillionaire, own no real property, and pay the big fat Zero. And one could own real property, yet be impoverished, and pay a bundle.
Taxes are wrong and have no place in a free society. B ut they are here and will very likely remain here. Can't we, shouldn't we, try to see if we can imbue them with a drop of smarts?
(I forgot. What do smarts have to do with our public education system?)
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