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From: mjk@tty3b.UUCP (Mike Kelly)
Newsgroups: net.taxes,net.politics
Subject: Re: Con$cience and Military Tax Campaign
Message-ID: <664@tty3b.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 29-Mar-85 09:33:54 EST
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Posted: Fri Mar 29 09:33:54 1985
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 >From: wagner@uw-june (Dave Wagner)
 >Unfortunately, although this idea [war tax resistance] may sound very
 >appealing, if you truly
 >believe that you have the right to do this then you must also allow that
 >any individual may specify ANY government expense that he does NOT wish
 >to fund.  In other words, the pro-lifers could stop funding abortions for
 >poor women, the rich could stop funding welfare, ...

I've argued exactly this point before -- that the proper way to
change the military policies of the U.S. is with collective, not
individual, action.  But I think I can see the point of the war
tax resistors, too.  They do not claim a "right" to resist war
taxes, at least not in the legal sense.  They claim a moral
obligation to do so.  One cannot stop people, no matter what their
political motivations, from making such individual moral statements.

Perhaps Dave's point is the same one I would make: one should not
confuse such individualistic moral statements with effective political
action.  Effective political action (a) is collective (b) speaks to people
where they're at (c) exerts pressure on those able to change the situation
you seek to change.  In the case of military policy, that is clearly the
Federal government.   Since it is unlikely that Reagan will change his
misguided policies, the place to exert pressure is on the Congress.  It,
after all, must approve every penny that is spent by the Administration.

Mike Kelly