Hurray for our ancestors, they rebelled against a tyrannical government and taxation without representation. Do you know how high that tax was that finally crossed the line? Zero. It was actually a corporate tax break. However, it was the principle of the laws being passed regarding our governance without our input.
So there was a revolt. We wanted a system in place in which we could have a voice and not be manipulated. Now, 240 years later, we have a system in place in which we have law makers passing laws without regard to what the populace wants. And they're sitting around getting rich off selling our rights and laws to the highest bidder. Passing laws that don't apply to the law makers. Well done, us, right?
Don't worry, we didn't forget the manipulation part. We just took that away from the politicians and gave that power to the media. We didn't have cable tv back then but we had the Loyalists Papers who condemned the actions of those who would later be known as Patriots. In fact, even George Washington found it to be vandalism and felt the East India Tea Company should've been compensated.
So why the tax break? It was a government bailout. The British government was trying to save a large company that was failing. Fortunately, we would never do anything like that now, right? Wait. Crap. Suddenly America's auto industry comes to mind. Ironically, the Treasury Department essentially bought shares with the tax payers' money and ended up turning a $2.4Billion profit off its initial $17.2Billion investment. My money, your money, everyone who's paid taxes. The government made billions of dollars yet none of us received a dividend off the deal. They just pocketed it. Politicians got pay increases. Corporate big wigs got large bonuses and golden parachutes. You and me? Nothing. Not even a thank you from the millionaires we just saved.
Well that's weird. So our government, without consulting us, invested our money in a private business, turned a profit, and didn't share any of that money with the people it took it from? And the revolution in the 1700's started just because of a tax break. Imagine how those guys would've felt today. Even though the majority of citizens didn't want it, the Affordable Health Care Act passed which forces citizens to purchase products from private companies or be penalized. Both of which are acts directly similar to what caused a war for independence.
Every day lobbyists are up in Washington greasing palms of greedy politicians so that their agendas can be met. Buying votes and purchasing laws that benefit themselves while not caring what the populace wants or thinks. Bribery, extortion, buying votes. Yep, we've established the very government we rebelled against.
So we now light fireworks as a symbol of cannon fire and musket fire that were daily occurrences during this battle for independence. We sing the Star Spangled Banner. We grill, drink and party to celebrate the day we "won our independence from a tyrannical government". Provided we get permits and permission from the government we've established who is exponentially more tyrannical that the one we fought against. We fought to govern ourselves rather than be governed by people who were profiting by establishing laws that didn't apply to themselves. Isn't it weird that over time we've slowly allowed a system that is against the very things we fought to establish?
Anyway, go enjoy your weekend. Have a beer and blow up a mailbox or two. Let's not think about the situation we're creating for ourselves. Maybe Tuesday we will get back to thinking about the fact our government doesn't make money, the people do. The government spends our money as it sees fit. We don't need the government, it needs us. Though they take our money to pay their salaries, we don't need politicians in order for us to survive. We could do so much better for ourselves if we allowed less corruption of our government. We all them to make us feel that we are dependent on our politicians because we forget we fought for Independence not Codependence.
