Committed Radicals
By Carol Dotterer My 88-year-old mom, Ruth Kirk, was visiting me in South Carolina when we were asked to write a profile for this newsletter after we asked for some Zombie war tax resistance forms mentioned in the December 2011 issue. Ruth: I sent every senator and representative a copy of the book Addicted to… Continue reading
Douglas and Maureen Mackenzie (2012)
February 29, 2012 Dear IRS employee, On this, the sixth year of our refusal to cooperate with the tax custom of the USA, we write to you to reaffirm our stance. During the blatantly corrupt, feverishly murderous administration of George W. Bush we could not, in good conscience send monetary support to the government, no… Continue reading
A Protest Becomes A Way of Life
By Beth Seberger This is the text of Beth’s presentation at the November 2011 WTR gathering in Kansas City. You can watch it on YouTube. In 1970, two years out of college, as a recent arrival to Kansas City, and in the midst of the Vietnam War, I became a war tax resister. Why? Because when I told… Continue reading
Taking Responsibility
By Lauren Tepper “I believe that we must consciously develop a greater sense of Universal Responsibility. We must learn to work not just for our own individual self, family, or nation, but for the benefit of all humankind.” —H.H. the XIVth Dalai Lama “A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both.”… Continue reading
Out on a Limb
By Dee Logan, Cleveland, OH I’ve kept my wages below taxable limits so as not to be required to pay income (war) taxes. And now, due to health issues, I am not employed. However, the year my mom passed on (2002), I did receive some inheritance. Although the financial person said it was not taxable,… Continue reading
Jump On Board
By Rod Nippert I am 61 years young. I live in an intentional community in southeastern Ohio. I have been a war tax resister (WTR) since the early 1970s. I believe being a WTR has profoundly affected my adult life. I do not feel that I am in any way uniquely suited to be a tax resister…. Continue reading
Seth Berner
April 11, 2011 Internal Revenue Service P.O. Box 37008 Hartford, CT 06178-0008 Re: Seth Berner, 2011 Form 1040 Dear People: When George Bush took the White House he inherited a budget surplus and relative peace in the world. Eight years later this country had the biggest deficit on record, the greatest degree of public unrest and uncertainty… Continue reading
Lauren Tepper
April 3, 2011 Dear IRS Personnel: I am thankful to live in a country that allows freedom of speech. For years I have been exercising my right of free speech by protesting the United States’ aggressive militarism. However, it seems that my voice and the voices of so many others who abhor war have gone… Continue reading
David and Jan Hartsough (2011)
March 30, 2011 Dear Friends at the IRS: As we approach April 15 and are again asked to contribute close to half of our tax dollars for the military and wars – past, present and future – we have to ask ourselves whether this is really how we want to spend our hard earned money. Our… Continue reading
Striving for 100% CO
Tim Pluta While serving in the military, it finally occurred to me one day that I might be called upon to kill somebody. I didn’t like the idea very much, so I ended up applying to get out as a conscientious objector (CO). Following a lengthy investigation, the U.S. armed services considered my beliefs to… Continue reading
Choose Life or Death
By Patricia Tompkins I just heard on National Public Radio this quote from a Chinese entrepreneur who became an organic farmer. “By chasing after money, we have forgotten the essence of life.” For me, the essence of life is connection to the land and to each other because without the first we cannot live and… Continue reading
War Tax Resisting
By Heather Snow, Durango, Colorado When I was a young girl around the age of 10, I already understood what a corrupt world we lived in. I had a deep distrust for society and mostly government. I had a few jobs when I was 17, and decided not to pay my taxes as a statement… Continue reading