Taxes to Beat the Axis

Patriotic Walt Disney film, 1942.

When America was great, this was how we thought.

We suited up, and showed up and paid up in order to achieve the great things that a Great Nation can do.

We defeated Hitler and we dreamed of a bigger America; something larger than ourselves.

Was anything more patriotic?

We paved our roads, bridged our rivers, reforested our mountains, and educated our children in the best public schools in the world.

Our hopes were not pinched, and our politicians and preachers did not elevate greed as a virtue, or proclaim self-centered vanity to be a positive moral force.

Our politicians did not tell us war could be waged on the cheap; they told us the truth.

Our politicians did not say our duty was to keep the gold and give others the shaft; they asked us to help our neighbors and reminded us that in other countries many people were far less fortunate.

Our ministers did not preach a gospel of personal wealth. They did not have airplanes, book deals, and sprawling mansions. Their message was one of humility and service to others.

Of course, back then, we knew who owned the store: someone who lived in the same town we did.

Now the store is owned and operated by a nameless faceless coporation whose board members meet in secret and fund the Tea Party movement.

The only time we hear from them directly is when they come knocking on the doors of Congress looking for a handout, their Italian suits pressed, their shirts starched, their gold cuff links gleaming.
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