To the Editor: I am delighted by the correspondence in Western Friend concerning war tax resistance. (I will use the term “refuser” in this statement. I like this fairly new way of expressing out war tax actions.) I have been a war tax refuser since 1980, and David Hartsough’s letter reflected well my own view. Nancy Haimes argues that war tax refusal is ineffective, maybe even counter-effective. She believes that we should devote ourselves to influencing Congress and to effective participation in the political system. I say that these are not either/or responses. Most of us who are war tax refusers also write and lobby our members of Congress. We demand a vast reduction in the U.S. military spending, and we yearn for and seek the passage of national legislation that would make war tax refusal legal. For information about the bill that is currently before Congress, go to peacetaxfund.org.
On Consumption (May 2013)