Internal Revenue Service
Andover, MA 05501-0002
April 15 2003
Dear Internal Revenue Service Person:
I enclose this letter with my completed tax form as an explanation about why I cannot, in good conscience, pay the tax money that is demanded of me by the I.R.S. and the United States government—$2,494.00—for the 2002 tax year.
Approximately 14 years ago, I began—as a spiritual discipline, to monitor every penny that went in and out of my life. Out of this discipline, I have become increasingly aware that how I spend my money—as it symbolizes my life energy—is a very concrete expression of my purpose and intent in this world.
I began to look at how some of the Federal tax dollars are used to fund projects and purposes of which I am in total disagreement with and which I don’t believe I can call my own. For instance, I believe that much of the land we Americans live on is, in fact, stolen land. I believe that some of the people living here are, in fact, descendants of stolen people who have not been adequately recompensed for their history of pain.
My principles dictate, as well, against the spending of my life energies for the express purpose of creating war. I cannot, in good faith, support the building and selling of weapons all around the world—often to dictatorial regimes—when there are so many starving children in the world. Many people in our very own country suffer for lack of adequate education, health care, housing, justice—way too much of our tax dollars, I believe, are going to uphold the interests of the wealthy.
The events of September 11th, 2001, were truly horrifying with so many innocent people losing their lives. These events, and the subsequent U.S. response have helped to galvanize my community and myself to work even more intensively for a world with peace and justice.
I am finding my country’s continued foreign and domestic response since September 11, 2001, to be unacceptable. For instance, the war on Iraq is a stupendous example of a foreign policy that puts the U.S. onto a dangerous path of unilateral preemption. If I could believe that this war was about truly liberating the Iraqi people, I might think differently. However, I believe it is a war about deepening U.S. geopolitical dominance in the Middle East, which I cannot support.
On a domestic front, we continue to hold people in detention with no clue as to their names because of government suspicion. We find our civil liberties under increasing attack through the USA Patriot Act, with a possible Patriot Act II looming on the horizon.
On an economic front, the U.S intensifies its giveaway to corporate interests in the form of tax cuts to rich individuals and corporations while poor people continue to suffer lives of poverty.
I realize that the U.S. government is involved in some good works, which I could wholeheartedly support. The problem I come up against when considering whether or not to willingly hand over my tax dollars is that I know that a certain percentage of my life energy will still go to the maintenance of a military-industrial complex that I just can’t support. As you will see at the end of this letter, I have redirected all of the money I would’ve paid in Federal taxes to organizations that I believe are working for meaningful change in this country and in the world.
By this action of refusing to pay my taxes—and subsequently redirecting them—I hope to affirm a deepening of my country’s democratic traditions. In my vision, we would expand beyond a representational democracy to more of a participatory democracy. I’ve come to believe that it takes a lot of money to even become a representative in the U.S. government. I have seen too many times throughout the history of this country that the government primarily defends and supports the interests of the more privileged. I believe that our budget should be focused on helping those at the bottom of the economic ladder, rather than those at the top.
I like to remind myself occasionally of what Thomas Jefferson said some 200 hundred years ago. Jefferson felt that our nation would need to undergo periodic revolutions in order to remain vital and alive. I see my tax refusal as part of this revolutionary energy and hope that others will similarly begin to take their own rightful power into their own hands—nonviolently. Lets not forget that part of the American Revolution from England included tax resistance.
Here is the breakdown of how I actually redirected the tax money that is demanded of me:
***$20.00—Samaritan Center—Local organization run through Catholic Charities of Tompkins County designed to help people most in need obtain financial assistance for such things as security deposits, medicine, personal needs, etc…
***$50.00—American Red Cross—Local organization that helps to support people in times of need to obtain emergency assistance…
***90.00—Sarah Carthon Fund—Fund developed for local woman trying to make ends meet and care for a disabled child…
***$100.00—AIDSWORK—Local organization working to provide education, outreach, and counseling to community about AIDS…
***$60.64—United Way of Tompkins County—Local service organization that helps to fund human service agencies…
***$47.25—Tompkins County Living Wage Coalition—Local activist coalition that works for a living/sustainable wage for all people through many different contexts…
***$116.20—National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee—National organization dedicated to spreading the word and networking about war tax resistance…
***$120.36—Ithaca Coalition for Global Justice, aka The Sharks—A diverse group of workers, students, and community members who are committed to economic, social, and environmental justice in Tompkins County, the United States and the world…
***$91.59—Tompkins County Network for Peace and Justice—Local coalition of groups that began as a result of September 11th and is helping to work for peace in an environment of war…
***$115.00—Ithaca Catholic Worker—Local organization working to bring justice and peace to people of Palestine, Israel, Columbia and Iraq (among other places) by providing witness on the ground in these countries….
***$26.00—Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space—International organization dedicated to building a citizens movement to challenge the plan to militarize space…
***$1,000.00—Offender, Aid, and Restoration Bail Fund—Local organization that offers transitional services to people sentenced to Tompkins County Jail…
***$50.00—War Resisters League—Believing war to be a crime against humanity, the War Resisters League advocates Gandhian nonviolence as the method for creating a democratic society free of war, racism, sexism, and human exploitation.
***$50.00—Voices in the Wilderness—Voices in the Wilderness is a joint US/UK campaign to end the economic sanctions and military warfare against the people of Iraq.
***$20.00—Books Thru Bars—Local organization that provides books free of charge for people in jail and prisons…
***$59.47—The Luminary News—Local news and information show on cable access TV that brings news not otherwise available to viewers of Tompkins County…
***$55.99—Democracy Now—Democracy Now is a national, listener-sponsored public radio and TV show, pioneering the largest community media collaboration in the country.
***$50.00—Ta’ayush—A grassroots movement of Arabs and Jews working to break down the walls of racism and segregation by constructing a true Arab-Jewish partnership.
***$40.00—Grassroots International Protection for the Palestinian People—International organization bringing attention to the plight of the Palestinian people…
***$73.00—Correctional Association of NY—Drop the Rock Campaign—The Correctional Association of New York is a private, non-profit criminal justice policy and advocacy organization that works to create a fair, efficient and humane criminal justice system and a more safe and just society.
***$40.00—War Times—Bi-monthly newspaper produced to help broaden deepen the fight against the Bush program by compiling information and analysis…
***$50.00—Human Rights Watch—International organization that stands with victims and activists to prevent discrimination, to uphold political freedom, to protect people from inhumane conduct in wartime, and to bring offenders to justice.
***$50.00—American Civil Liberties Union—National organization that guards liberty, working daily in courts, legislatures and communities to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to all people in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States.
***$23.50—Bill of Rights Defense Committee—National organization that supports repeal of the USA PATRIOT Act, Homeland Security Act, and Executive Orders that infringe on Constitutional rights.
***$75.00—Jesus Only Apostolic Church—Local church in Ithaca that works to bring spiritual renewal to people…
***$20.00—International ANSWER—National coalition of groups working to stop war and end racism…
$2,494.00—Grand total of tax money redirected that I would have paid to the I.R.S.
I conclude my letter with a statement made by a Mennonite pastor, John K. Stoner. “We are war tax resisters because we have discovered some doubt as to what belongs to Caesar and what belongs to God, and have decided to give the benefit of the doubt to God.” I sincerely encourage you to treat my letter and my actions with respect. I know, as well, that you have a job to do and will respect that to the fullest degree possible.
In the spirit of life and with peace,
Pete Meyers
