Last week in NWTRCC’s Strategy Committee, we discussed war tax redirection, which is a tactic employed by many war tax resisters. The money such resisters refuse to pay to the IRS, they instead “redirect” it to organizations they feel will make better use of the money. (Read more about redirection on our website.)
One of the most g
ratifying things about war tax resistance for many of us is being able to use our money, time, and passion to build a better world right now. If I give my tax dollars to non-profits, I promote and help enact the type of world I want to live in (and depending on my income level and donation amounts, I might reduce my taxable income too!).
If I am able and choose to live under the taxable income line, I may have extra time to redirect to community projects. For example, longtime war tax resister Karl Meyer has been able to rehabilitate several homes to form the Nashville Greenlands community (read this article from 2000). These low-cost homes allow folks to live on low incomes and spend more time on activities that are most meaningful to them.
And for folks like Elizabeth Boardman, who are holding their war taxes aside as they pursue legal challenges to our military taxation system, and for everyone who resists paying war taxes, they are still redirecting their consent from the military to peace.
It is impossible to remove all of our money, time, and effort from the military – the web of militarization and taxation covers so many aspects of society. But the joy of war tax resistance is redirecting, as much as possible, from that system to the world we want to create.
Post by Erica
