Marching Into the Future
I was in the Cascade Mountains in Washington state in August. How lucky to be able to take a hike in the wilderness and leave behind the rush of daily life in New York City and the news of endless war and crisis after crisis somewhere in the world. And yet when I asked a… Continue reading
Give Your Taxes to the Solidarity Economy
by David M. Gross In mid-April, people across the United States struggle to fill out their federal income tax returns. This shared calamity has created something of an inverted holiday season — with grumbling about paperwork and frustration towards government bureaucracy replacing the “peace on earth, goodwill to men” of the Yuletide. But at a church in… Continue reading
An Ethic for the 21st Century
by Robert Randall, with feedback from many folks Let us all agree on this one simple thing: It is not OK to kill people. It is not OK to kill people because you don’t like them. It is not OK to kill people because they don’t like you. It is not OK to kill… Continue reading
Resistance, Redirection, and Revolution: Tabling at the Seattle Anarchist Bookfair
Tabling at the Seattle Anarchist Bookfair this weekend, I realized again that anti-war activism is only part of the picture in modern war tax resistance. With so many problems in the world, with so much reporting and news from the proliferation of modern media sources online, it’s hard to know where to focus. Not only… Continue reading
Ferguson, Gaza, Iraq, Syria, Ukraine…
It has been an exhausting few weeks in world events. Every day I look at Twitter and Facebook and there is always something new and discouraging. From the astonishingly violent Israeli attacks on Gaza to the police violence in Ferguson, from the secessionist fighting in Ukraine to the advance of ISIS in Iraq, I’m more… Continue reading
Real Risks
Yesterday on Facebook, friend and fellow activist Sam Diener shared an article out of Afghanistan with me, “Afghan Taliban Reportedly Kill 20 Civilians Over ‘War Tax’.” The short article sourced from Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty/Radio Free Afghanistan reported: An Afghan official said Taliban militants have killed 20 civilians who refused to pay them “war… Continue reading
For a World Free of Nuclear Weapons: Remembering Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Today is August 6, the 69th anniversary of the US military dropping an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan. 70-80,000 people were killed by the bomb drop and the subsequent firestorms, while another 70,000 or more died subsequently from radiation sickness and other consequences. On August 9, the US military dropped another atomic bomb on Nagasaki…. Continue reading
Flashback 2009: Gaza and War Tax Resistance
Note: This piece by NWTRCC coordinator Ruth Benn was originally published in the February/March 2009 edition of NWTRCC’s newsletter, More Than a Paycheck. We still operate the War Tax Boycott site and you can still sign on to the boycott. The flyer, using an older image by artist Doug Minkler, developed for Northern California War… Continue reading
Henry David Thoreau: A War Tax Resistance Inspiration
By July 1846, the naturalist, slavery abolitionist, and writer Henry David Thoreau had been resisting the payment of poll taxes that helped fund the Mexican-American War for six years. He was arrested for refusing to pay and spent a night in jail. Though someone, likely his aunt, paid his back taxes and got him out… Continue reading
Summer Travel: Destination Wisconsin
Family related activities got me out of New York City a week ago and into Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Given the timing of my flights I realized I could fit in a visit or two with people in our war tax resistance network, so I made some contacts and set up a couple meetings. We are very… Continue reading
A Different Movement to Reduce Unnecessary Suffering: Animal Rights
As a war tax resister, I orient myself toward removing my participation from just one part of the war machine. It’s truer than I like to think about that I can’t completely keep from interacting in an economy that gets so much of its power and causes so much of its exploitation and death through… Continue reading
Facing an IRS Levy with Fun and Fearlessness
(The following piece was originally published in NWTRCC’s More Than a Paycheck bimonthly newsletter in June 2002. For more information on how to deal with an IRS levy, consult our Practical War Tax Resistance #3: How to Resist Collection, or Make the Most of Collection When It Occurs.) by Thad W. Crouch It was April… Continue reading
