Asonokirk V 2.0
04-06-2006, 05:12 PM
I was doing my federal income taxes today, and as usual I owe them. I'm afraid the days of my getting refunds are behind me. Although it wasn't that difficult to fill out form 1040A, I still find it kind of interesting that we, the people, have allowed ourselves to be forced to do work for the government by the process of filing tax returns.
There must be an easier way to make our contributions to our infrastructure and administrative overhead, along with all of the incidentals (which are huge) that go along with operating an effective government and society.
However, it is possible to file on-line. I don't do that because I don't want the federal government having easy access to my bank account (like they couldn't get it if they really wanted it).
The point of this is that if you take a really broad overview, we punish ourselves and mistrust ourselves by the bureaucracies we've created, a bureaucracy at each level of government with which we personally interface that forces us to expend effort. That effort takes the form of filling out forms, waiting in lines, being on hold on phone calls, and other activities most would agree are a nuisance at best, and unpleasant at worst. Why do we do this to ourselves?
Let's make a system that allows us to forgo participating in activities we find uncomfortable. Ok?
There must be an easier way to make our contributions to our infrastructure and administrative overhead, along with all of the incidentals (which are huge) that go along with operating an effective government and society.
However, it is possible to file on-line. I don't do that because I don't want the federal government having easy access to my bank account (like they couldn't get it if they really wanted it).
The point of this is that if you take a really broad overview, we punish ourselves and mistrust ourselves by the bureaucracies we've created, a bureaucracy at each level of government with which we personally interface that forces us to expend effort. That effort takes the form of filling out forms, waiting in lines, being on hold on phone calls, and other activities most would agree are a nuisance at best, and unpleasant at worst. Why do we do this to ourselves?
Let's make a system that allows us to forgo participating in activities we find uncomfortable. Ok?