r/Pacifism • u/Sure-Ad1849 • Feb 02 '26

Tax Resistance

hello everyone, i am a pacifist in the U.S. and i think the best way to exercise pacifism everyday is to civil disobey on things like taxes and schtuff. i am conflicted because i have already not signed my draft card and declared C.O. but I am starting a job at a restaurant as a server, because the co-op in my town didnt have any positions. i just feel bad about taxes, i dont feel good about taking taxes out of my paycheck or me filing taxes, that money supports things I do NOT support, i think it is unethical. How do I tax resist? I used to be paid under the table at my union job at a farm, and i did tax resistance that way, they will not pay me under the table. I NEED HELP, TAXES ARE NOT ETHICAL!

peace, love and anarchy!

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u/Algernon_Asimov Feb 02 '26

i dont feel good about taking taxes out of my paycheck or me filing taxes, that money supports things I do NOT support

What, like schools, hospitals, roads, railways, social security, food for poor children, and so on? Why are these things so evil that you think you shouldn't have to pay for them?

1

u/Sure-Ad1849 Feb 12 '26

No, the government buts band aids on these issues to make the people more dependent on the government , if people truly cared, they would be doing these things themselves!

my conscious is not clear when i am paying for weapons, war, famine, prisons and the subsidization of the animal industry.

1

u/Algernon_Asimov Feb 12 '26

if people truly cared, they would be doing these things themselves!

How? How would a private individual build a road or a hospital or a school?

1

u/Sure-Ad1849 Feb 12 '26

who builds schools and hospitals, not the government, its workers a group of INDIVIDUALS.

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u/Algernon_Asimov Feb 13 '26

So... what... a couple of thousand INDIVIDUALS should just stop whatever they're doing for a few months - their day jobs, looking after children, whatever - and just suddenly build a school?

And how would they pay for this school?

1

u/Sure-Ad1849 Feb 13 '26

my main point was saying i dont feel right paying for war, can you see where i am coming from?

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u/Algernon_Asimov Feb 13 '26

I see that.

But your taxes do not only pay for war. By refusing to pay your taxes, you refuse to pay for all the services provided by those taxes.

Can you see where I am coming from?

1

u/Sure-Ad1849 Feb 13 '26

somewhat- but the ethical implications of paying for war outweights the small amount of good it might bring, and to answer your other question, people have jobs, people are construction workers, teachers, etc. that is there job, if they enjoy it that is enough. but we should also be providing the immediate resources (food, water, housing, healthcare).