Narz
keeping it real
What makes a person either part or not a part of a nation?
Is a homeless man who does not work or pay any taxes still as much of an American (assuming he lives in the US) and Mr. John Q. Public who happily pays the maximum amount of taxes he is required to and cuts no corners?
Sometimes I feel like I'm not a "true" American because I pay virtually no taxes. I have worked in my life largely off-the-books and have bought many of my belongings either from private owners or off the internet (tax free).
On the bus today there was an old lady arguing over a seat with a Hispanic man saying things like, "Go back to where you belong." and "I've paid my taxes for 35 years.". It seems to me that the unrecorded immigrants and countless non-Americans working for pennies overseas are one of the main reasons our lush Western lifestyle is even possible. It saddens me to hear (and see) the sterotype of Americans as self-centered and indifferent to the plight of others around the world and of the environment. As if our current lives would be possible without either.
I am grateful to live in the country I do (USA) but I would never fight and die for it and if some of the privladges and freedoms I have now started to be taken away I would leave with little regret.
Is a homeless man who does not work or pay any taxes still as much of an American (assuming he lives in the US) and Mr. John Q. Public who happily pays the maximum amount of taxes he is required to and cuts no corners?
Sometimes I feel like I'm not a "true" American because I pay virtually no taxes. I have worked in my life largely off-the-books and have bought many of my belongings either from private owners or off the internet (tax free).
On the bus today there was an old lady arguing over a seat with a Hispanic man saying things like, "Go back to where you belong." and "I've paid my taxes for 35 years.". It seems to me that the unrecorded immigrants and countless non-Americans working for pennies overseas are one of the main reasons our lush Western lifestyle is even possible. It saddens me to hear (and see) the sterotype of Americans as self-centered and indifferent to the plight of others around the world and of the environment. As if our current lives would be possible without either.
I am grateful to live in the country I do (USA) but I would never fight and die for it and if some of the privladges and freedoms I have now started to be taken away I would leave with little regret.