The importance of being civilly disobedient

I am now a criminal.

Not in the felony sense, but not in the speeding ticket sense either. Today I made the conscious decision to participate in the War Tax Boycott.

Because, as many of you readers know, 2007 was an extraordinary year for me income-wise, (thanks to a certain game show) I just couldn't afford to forgo all of my tax liability this year, and so I did have to write a large check to the U.S. Treasury. But, after some calculating, soul-searching, and thinking about symbolic value, I deducted 15% from the amount I owed, and I wrote the following letter* to accompany my tax return:

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April 15, 2008


Department of the Treasury
Internal Revenue Service Center
Atlanta, GA 39901-0102


Dear Sir or Madam:

After careful consideration of the consequences and balancing them with my strong feelings against contributing fully to the illegal, unethical, and unnecessary war presently being waged by the United States in Iraq and Afghanistan, I hereby declare myself a War Tax Objector and am withholding 15% of my total tax liability for the 2007 tax year. The 15% amount is intended to represent a compromise or median point between the percentage of U.S. income tax revenue currently spent on the military occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan (7%) and the percentage of revenue targeted to military expenses in toto (31%). I simply cannot justify making a full contribution to the deaths of thousands of U.S. and coalition soldiers and exponentially more Iraqi and Afghan citizens, nor to the destruction of the rule of law in America by the regime presently in power.

I understand that this is an illegal act under current federal law, but based on my own values and morals, I believe that the war and occupation themselves are illegal and that my decision to conscientiously object to funding these military actions is a necessary act of civil disobedience in order to express my outrage at the federal government’s continued adherence to a dangerous and destructive military strategy. There was, as we now know with certainty, absolutely no defensible reason to invade and occupy Iraq, and while the military operation in Afghanistan arguably was justified by the search for Osama bin Laden, the apparent abandonment of that mission has made our efforts there futile and has created an increasingly unstable environment for their citizens and our soldiers alike.

Of course, I know that the withholding of a mere $[amount deleted] will have little if any direct effect on U.S. policy in Iraq and Afghanistan. However, I am heartened by the hope that a similarly concerted effort by many American taxpayers, coordinated by the organizers of the 2008 War Tax Boycott (http://wartaxboycott.org), might deliver the message that the country is tired of the warmongering elitists who presently control our government and, indeed, dominate our discourse through the mainstream media. Just as importantly, though, it will allow me to live my life having reduced the stain of blood on my own hands that results from funding a war and occupation that never should have happened and that ought to end immediately.

Thank you for your attention.

Sincerely,
[Sinfonian]

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Maybe this is a futile gesture, and I'm just setting myself up for an audit, or worse. Or maybe this is just another step in standing up as a citizen and saying that I'm sick and tired of watching the Bush crime syndicate run roughshod over the Constitution. Either way, I'm okay with it. In fact, I feel good about it.

Taking action is empowering. Everyone ought to try it sometime.

(cross-posted in substantially the same form at Pax Americana)

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* Looking back at the letter now, I should have added a sentence about how I planned to use the withheld money in ways that will help change the current state of things, such as donations to progressive candidates and causes. But, frankly, I forgot, and I've already mailed it with my return. Oh well.