mousme | Open letter

Current Mood: *snarl*

Entry tags:

Open letter

Dear government asshats,

Please stop sending me letters telling me you've "revised" my tax claim for last year and demanding more money. Seriously, this is the third time this year I've had to cut you a damned cheque, and I'm getting a little tired of it. The horse is dead (and broke), so please stop beating it. How many times in one year can you harp on a teeny tiny thing like my poor, insignificant T4? Really. How many? Is it a little challenge you've issued to your department? "Hey, let's see if we can drive this random taxpayer around the bend! First one to make her crack gets a Christmas bonus!"

Where the hell is the vaunted tax break you promised? Oh, right. I'm not allowed a tax break because I'm not a wealthy landowner.

Well, fuck you too.

No love,

Me

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

All "public servants" in government come to believe that all money is government's and what you earn is really something that they've allowed you to take from them out of the goodness of their hearts.

Holy sweeping generalization, Batman!

Theft is the act of taking wealth by force or fraud. Taxation fits the definition.

That was me.

I was raised to be a good little socialist, so I have no problem with taxation per se, as long as the process is transparent and I can see exactly where my money is going. I also have a fairly strong sense of what's equitable, and the fact that our current government keeps coming back for more on my measly little paycheque is more than a little aggravating. There are many, many people in this country who can better afford to have their accound "revised" three times a year.

I sent in my tax statement like a good little citizen back in March. My taxes are *not* complicated. I get one paycheque once a week, always from the same source. My taxes are *already* withheld at source, and yet the freaking government doesn't seem to think that that's enough.

Grah! I am seriously unamused by this.

Even if you put a thief above the law, by giving him a "tax collector's" hat it shouldn't be surprising that he still chooses to prey upon those least able to defend themselves.

Um, no we don't. I'm a public servant, thank you very much. And I, when doing anything for Parks Canada that has to do with money, always try to keep costs as low as possible. I shop for the government the way I would shop for myself.

I am a public servant, and I get audited by Revenue Canada too.

Maybe. But then, you're probably not in the position to be procuring the really big pork, either. Also, being in the political sphere, you have no effective feedback on how well your "customers" are being served, since they cannot shop at some competitor government without having to uproot their households.

you have no effective feedback on how well your "customers" are being served

Uh, yes, we do. They are called "surveys" and are conducted on a fairly regular basis. In my branch of the government we also have more immediate feedback because we are in a service sector, and we offer our clients the opportunity to provide feedback - positive or negative, and we are committed to responding to the negative feedback especially with action and the person who made the complaint is informed about what we did to address their complaint in writing.

Also, I'm in the public service, not the political sphere. The public service was established as a separate, impartial entity from the politicians. We serve the public, not the politicians.

P.S. If you feel that you need to respond to me again, please do so by leaving a comment in my lj, as I don't wish to clog up

mousme's with our off-topic conversation.

No worries. It was an interesting debate to read. :)

We're just going to disagree about the nature of the political and social spheres. Ms.

mousme asked some questions, some of them rhetorical, no doubt. I just felt like giving her some answers from my understanding of the world. I wouldn't expect many Canadians to agree with me.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Open letter

Taxation is theft.

Re: Taxation is theft.

Re: Taxation is theft. If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck...

Re: Taxation is theft. If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck...

Re: Taxation is theft. If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck...

Re: Taxation is theft. If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck...

Re: Taxation is theft.

Re: Taxation is theft.

Re: Taxation is theft.

Re: Taxation is theft.

Re: Taxation is theft.

Nah, it's okay.