God Bless America!

There was a political commercial on TV the other day that had me both shaking my head and laughing. Yet, the more I thought about it, the sadder I became. As near as I could tell, there are people in this State who are upset about both having to pay taxes and having to start "at the bottom". Apparently, either these people do not remember American history or they forgot about the Whiskey Rebellion. Just five short years after the ratification of the Constitution, farmers in Western Pennsylvania raised the same concerns and President George Washington had to put them in their place. In an episode of American history known as "The Whiskey Rebellion", Americans forever learned that we all have to pay taxes to belong to the Union and we all have to start at the bottom.

Shortly after the Revolutionary War, the fledgling democracy discovered that war debts do not disappear and they needed a system to repay those debts. Following the recommendations of Alexander Hamilton, the Federal Government assumed all of the war debt from all of the former colonies and exacted taxes from its citizens to raise the money to pay off the debt. One of those taxes was a tax on the whiskey farmers produced to both preserve their leftover grain and to use in barter. I imagine they drank some too. When Congress began to tax the whiskey, farmers became upset and pointed out that taxation was the exact reason the colonies united together to break from England and to break from the King. President George Washington politely rebutted that this situation was different.

Washington reminded the farmers that they had no representation under the King and that fact, more than anything else, made the King's taxes objectionable. Now, however, under the new system of democracy, every State had representation and the new taxes were not only legal, they were necessary. All of the benefits all of the citizens enjoyed as part of the new Union came at a price and taxes helped pay for those benefits. When push came to shove, George Washington himself led troops into Pennsylvania in a display of force to show the citizens how serious the new government was about taxation. Since that time, taxes in one form or another have paid for all the benefits we enjoy as citizens of a Democratic Republic. Without the taxes and the revenues exacted, there would be no roads, no schools, no bridges, no military and, most of all, no America.

Ever since I was a young boy, I always paid my taxes and I always paid my dues. When I bought my candy, my model airplanes and my school supplies, I paid taxes. Oh, I did not care for it, but I understood the importance of paying my own way and carrying my own weight. Rather than complain about taxation, I actually took great pride in it. To me, it was one way that I, even as a small child, could contribute to the overall success of the nation. I learned that even small contributions here and there all add up.

Later, when I grew older, I joined the Boys Scouts and they not only taxed me, they made me start at the bottom too. Their taxes came in the form of dues and their policy of starting from the bottom up began the first day when I became a Bobcat and could not even wear my Bobcat pin right side up until I performed one good deed. I never questioned the rules even once. It all made perfect sense to me even at that early age. I understood that our dues paid the rent on the church we used for our meetings, paid for the campgrounds we used to jamboree and paid for the camaraderie we all shared. As for starting at the bottom, that made sense too. The bigger kids were older, wiser and more experienced. No one ever had to explain to me why the senior scouts enjoyed increased privilege. We learned it at school too.

We all began elementary school in Kindergarten and worked our way through the grades. Every time we passed to a new level, we started over again, but we also learned new skills, gained in experience and earned more privilege. Even when we finally graduated college and went as far as education would take us, we had to start all over again at the bottom in the world of business. All along the way, we learned about paying our taxes, paying our dues, and starting over from the beginning. That is America and that is the American way.

When I see commercials on TV with actors pretending to be citizens disgruntled about having to pay taxes, having to pay dues and having to start at the bottom, they get no sympathy from me. Oh, even I sometimes complain about the way my tax dollars and dues are spent, but I understand the system is not at fault, only the representation. The American system may not be perfect, but it is still the best system in the world and the greatest Union ever to exist.

Wherever I go in this world, I always encounter people whining about one thing or another whether their complaints are justified or not, and that is OK. Our collective taxes bought the freedom for them to do so. It just seems ironic for Americans to complain about paying their dues as they walk down sidewalks, drive down roads, graduate from schools and enjoy all the other benefits gleaned from the fruits of taxation. Where would this country be if the Revolution had failed and the Whiskey Rebels succeeded? For the privilege of not knowing that answer, I gladly pay my taxes, pay my dues, and start at the bottom as required. Dues and taxation are not a burden to me, but, rather, a privilege. I feel privileged to contribute to the continuation of the Great Experiment, the success of future generations and the infrastructure of today. Instead of joining in the chorus of whiners with little to whine about, I proudly step in line, pay my fair share and proclaim, "God Bless America".