April 16, 2001
Internal Revenue Service
Andover, MA 05501-0002
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—$2,523.81—for the 1999 tax year.
Approximately 10 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.
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:
***$100.00—War Resister’s League—Organization dedicated to the elimination of war, violence, and poverty in this country and in the world…
***$110.00—National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee—National organization dedicated to spreading the word and networking about war tax resistance…
***$125.67—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…
***$326.42—Campaign for Labor Rights—National organization devoted to educating the public on local and global connections of corporate globalization…
***$80.00—AIDSWORK—Local organization dedicated to education and outreach regarding AIDS and responsible sexuality…
***$70.00—Witness for Peace—Accompaniment organization which travels to countries that have been underdeveloped by the U.S. and it’s allies to bear witness to violence and bring that information back home…
***$15.00—School of the Americas Watch/Ithaca—Local organization that works to close the School of Americas in Fort Benning, Georgia. The school has trained many soldiers from Central and South America who’ve been implicated in brutal massacres against their country’s people…
***$10.00—Catholic Worker Vieques Support Fund—Local organization devoted to bringing awareness to the destruction of Vieques, an island of Puerto Rico…
***12.00—Center for Third World Organizing—National organization dedicated to bringing to greater light issues of oppression facing people of color nationally and worldwide…
***$11.50—Green Party USA—National and political organization devoted to creating a socially responsible movement and politics…
***$15.00—Human Services Coalition of Tompkins County—Local organization consisting of various human service agencies with purpose of streamlining services and providing information and referral…
***$40.00—Friends of the Greens—Help fund trip to protest annual spring meetings of IMF and World Bank in Washington, DC…
***$15.00—Ithaca Catholic Worker—Local organization working to bring greater awareness to violence done to people of Iraq by economic sanctions imposed by United States and allies…
***$143.40—Institute for Community Economics—National community development organization that helps to fund—via loans and grants—low-income housing around the country as well as community land trusts…
***$115.00—ACORN Living Wage Resource Center—National organization supporting local groups around the country in implementing Living Wage legislation..
***$10.00—Coordinadora—Bolivian organization that works to challenge privatization Bolivia’s water supplies…educate world public about such issues…
***$100.00—Ithaca Health Fund—Local health fund designed to wrest control of health insurance from large corporations and place power of insurance back into community…
***$65.00—Ithaca Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal/League of Indigenous Sovereign Nations of the Western Hemisphere—Local organization committed to a fair trial for Mumia Abu-Jamal as well as the rights of indigenous People’s throughout the hemisphere…
***$35.00—ReconsiDer—Statewide organization with the mission of educating the public on the folly and misguided nature of the War on Drugs…
***$50.00—The Cobbler—Local journalistic venture designed to question capitalism to it’s foundations and otherwise bring alternative points of view to local area…
***$25.00—Nonviolent Alternatives—South Dakota-based organization that trains people in nonviolence, specifically as relates to Lakota Indian lands…
***$54.00—IndyMedia—International media outlet based primarily on the Internet designed to give people alternative forms of media information not found otherwise found on the “publicly subsidized” media…
***$30.00—United Way of Tompkins County—Local service organization that funds human service agencies…
***$1000.000—Offender, Aid, And Restoration—Local organization that provides support and outreach to people incarcerated in County Jail…
$2,552.20—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
Ithaca, NY
