The Common Contract

I have an appointment this afternoon with my accountant to receive my tax preparation package. I owe this year, as I did last year. Monies for which I worked long hours vanished from my accounts with the scribbling of my name on a line on a check. A little piece of paper drew away from me many opportunities, delights, fantasies, luxuries and pamperings. This year, the pattern repeats.

I stalwartly pay my fair share, though, and do not attempt to dodge the scythe. I honestly report my earnings and take only those deductions to which I am validly entitled. I know that there are grey-area ways for my tax burden to be eased, also, but I turn away from these temptations. I pay what the government fixes as my contribution to the common contract. It is my payment for admission into the free and communal society that we enjoy in modern America.

Sound rather Conservative? Actually, it is a tremendously liberal viewpoint. It is a pinko-hippie filter laid over a photograph of the American flag. By paying my taxes honestly and dutifully, I make my contribution to the well-being, safety and security of my fellow people. People whom I cannot help physically, support emotionally, rescue financially…my taxes go, in some part, to ease their burdens. And their dollars go towards easing mine. What a Kum-Ba-Yah ideal. When I struggle, the common dollar is there to provide medical care, food, fuel assistance, counseling, job training and placement, educational assistance…I am supported by the currency of the community.

Through the common contract, that socialistic strategy under which we operate, I am provided with items unobtainable with my own meager savings. I could not buy and maintain a national park for my recreation? I could not preserve a natural wonder, historical building or architectural achievement on my pay alone. An artist I admire would not find great patronage from the depth of my coffers. My love for travel could not be realized if I had to pay for the paths to take me over the horizon. Medicines that I will require through my life – some do not yet, perhaps, exist in finished form. I could not completely fund their development, testing and approval. When my safety is threatened, I could neither rally nor stipend the police, fire, or medical workers to affect my rescue. When my home is under siege, I have not an army in my basement to mobilize into action.

By common contract, we join hands and wallets in mutual support. At various times, we each have needs specific and unique. We drink from the common fountain what we need, knowing that it is our right to do so. It is also our responsibility to ensure that the fountain is replenished, tended with care, never polluted or abused. We choose individuals to service the fountain’s needs and we must demonstrate great wisdom when making selections. Further, we must continually evaluate the pool – its breadth, its depth, its stewards – to ensure that it is maintaining and continuing to maintain the needs of society. Sometimes that means harsh actions. Paying more, taking less during lean times. Meting out penalty for abuse, neglect or mismanagement. We must be ever vigilant for the health of our fountain. We must observe, evaluate, recommend, suggest, take action, vote…We toil for the good of all, we pay for the good of all…For we are a part of the all. We are the Stone Soup Society. Conservative, I don’t think so. Sounds pretty long-haired to me…