Where Anti-Tax Fervor Means ‘All Services Will Cease’

This piece does a fairly good job of presenting the conservative point of view: that there are mountains of waste in government to cut rather than hike taxes. I agree with that perspective.<p>Unfortunately, as we&#x27;ve seen from Republican-led governments operating under this Grover Norquist-esque model for thirty years, the beast never starves. In Washington DC they print money to offset deficits. Instead of cutting waste, the libraries and the parks are closed.<p>There&#x27;s still a great desire out there for responsible government that can operate efficiently. That can keep the libraries open by trimming bureaucratic waste rather than asking for more money. Probably will always be a pipe dream.

From someone of a Norwegian&#x2F;Australian background, what the whole article describes is simply alien. People just aren&#x27;t that <i>selfish</i> on a grand scale in either of my home countries.<p>Clearly, none of the non-voters ever read Matilda. Or understand that ultimately, the lack of public services will put everyone back.

I think taxes are good. I don&#x27;t mind paying taxes at all.<p>I want to support community services and public works and social equality.<p>The only context in which I really really hate paying tax is where I feel that the politicians are looting the public money to enrich themselves and give themselves generous employment benefits well beyond that of ordinary citizens.

“Only a crisis - actual or perceived - produces real change.&quot; - Milton Friedman<p>Age 45 and up comprises the smallest number of HN readers, the largest number of Americans, the largest quantity of American voters, and the greatest concentration of wealth in America. This, majority demographic will support real change when there is no other option, but not before then. Most refuse to admit their generations enacted public policies that have left most cites States and the Federal Government irreversibly in debt.<p>Milton Friedman also said, &quot;When that crisis occurs, the actions that are taken depend on the ideas that are lying around.&quot; Its critical that today&#x27;s emerging leaders are well educated on what makes for sustainable economic and social policy, and what is required to dig ourselves out from the hole dug for us.

In rural areas this seems like it will kill jobs and make the area less desirable.<p>There always is a balance to strike, not providing too many services at too high a cost, but killing off a library? Not being able to have police?<p>How is someone supposed to apply for a job if they don&#x27;t have internet? How are they supposed to pull themselves up by their bootstraps? The library provides ways for people to get ahead.

Local, State, and Federal government spending as a percentage of the GDP continue to creep upward.<p><a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.usgovernmentspending.com&#x2F;spending_chart_1900_2020USp_XXs2li111tcn_F0xF0sF0lF0f_Federal_State_and_Local_Spending_in_20th_Century" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.usgovernmentspending.com&#x2F;spending_chart_1900_2020...</a><p>It&#x27;s surprising that the closing of some library branches is somehow the fault of overly paranoid tax-haters rather than out-of-control spending patterns.

&quot;More money in voters’ wallets from tax cuts in Washington could reduce the sting in asking people to pay more at home, or it could just reinforce the idea that all taxes are meant to go down.&quot;<p>The latest tax plan that was floated means very few people in states like Oregon (with high state taxes) are going to see any reduction, because they&#x27;re going to make those state taxes non-deductible. Not sure how that plays into this argument.

I live a block away from a public library. It&#x27;s so close that I can see it right outside my window!<p>And you know what? I have not been to that library ever, and I&#x27;ve lived in this neighborhood for years.<p>Even if you happen to use your library every day now, you probably won&#x27;t be doing that in twenty years, regardless of whether or not they continue to offer service in your town.<p>Taking a wide view, what else should we expect, now that we have computers in our pockets connected to a far larger and more comprehensive source of knowledge?<p>There are a lot of details and small objections to my point here, to be sure, but the technology that&#x27;s driving this trend is NOT going away.