It's time to take a stand: "Hands Off Iran"

[Ignis]

From Chris Hedges in the 12/10/07 issue of The Nation:
( http://www.thenation.com/doc/20071210/hedges )

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"I will not pay my income tax if we go to war with Iran. I realize this is a desperate and perhaps futile gesture. But an attack on Iran--which appears increasingly likely before the coming presidential election--will unleash a regional conflict of catastrophic proportions. This war, and especially Iranian retaliatory strikes on American targets, will be used to silence domestic dissent and abolish what is left of our civil liberties. It will solidify the slow-motion coup d'état that has been under way since the 9/11 attacks. It could mean the death of the Republic.

Let us hope sanity prevails. But sanity is a rare commodity in a White House that has twisted Trotsky's concept of permanent revolution into a policy of permanent war with nefarious aims--to intimidate and destroy all those classified as foreign opponents, to create permanent instability and fear and to strip citizens of their constitutional rights.

<snip>

A country that exists in a state of permanent war cannot exist as a democracy. Our long row of candles is being snuffed out. We may soon be in darkness. Any resistance, however symbolic, is essential. There are ways to resist without being jailed. If you owe money on your federal tax return, refuse to pay some or all of it, should Bush attack Iran. If you have a telephone, do not pay the 3 percent excise tax. If you do not owe federal taxes, reduce what is withheld by claiming at least one additional allowance on your W-4 form--and write to the IRS to explain the reasons for your protest. Many of the details and their legal ramifications are available on the War Resisters League's website (www.warresisters.org/wtr.htm).

I will put the taxes I owe in an escrow account. I will go to court to challenge the legality of the war. Maybe a courageous judge will rule that the Constitution has been usurped and the government is guilty of what the postwar Nuremberg tribunal defined as a criminal war of aggression. Maybe not. I do not know. But I do know this: I have friends in Tehran, Gaza, Beirut, Baghdad, Jerusalem and Cairo. They will endure far greater suffering and deprivation. I want to be able, once the slaughter is over, to at least earn the right to ask for their forgiveness."

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If Congress doesn't have the spine to stop funding Bush's Wars, I say we do it ourselves: Not one more penny for illegal wars of aggression!

[Basileus Basileon]

1. That isn't protest. That's tax evasion, and it's a crime.

Courts have heard that argument a number of times--that failing to pay taxes is a legitimate form of protest, or that you don't believe your taxes should go to things you don't approve of (often abortion or federal welfare programs, both considered "unconstitutional" by the fringe Right)--and each time rejected it. Dozens of people each year try some variant of a "I shouldn't have to pay taxes because the government has done X" claim. Each one fails, and fails quickly. This is settled law. You cannot withhold taxes as protest of actions you find immoral or believe to be illegal. You'd be lucky to even get to trial with this claim; they'll take it just as seriously as if you said, "I shouldn't have to pay taxes because I declare myself King."

I agree that war with Iran must be prevented, and I applaud any form of protest. However, this wouldn't make any sort of splash. There are fairly good odds nobody would notice, and you successfully ended up passing your tax burden plus interest to your children. In this event--your best-case scenario--you haven't actually protested, because nobody noticed. You've simply robbed society. There are also good odds it will get you audited and fined by an eye-rolling IRS agent and judge. There are zero odds you will cause any change at all.

[Ignis]

2. There are many forms of protest that have been criminalized.

That shouldn't stop us from trying them. Have you ever been herded into a "free speech zone," or do you actually put shoes on the street in any form of protest? Does making free speech a crime outside of a 10'x10' cage stop the inalienable right to protest?

"There are zero odds you will cause any change at all."

I think you're very wrong. No one could have predicted how much change has been brought about by non-violent protests such as passive resistance in India, the pre-integration Deep South, Kent State, etc.

(And before anyone goes all atwitter with outrage: No, I'm not comparing the author of this article to Rosa Parks.)
:eyes:

The amount of impact is also exponentially increased by the number of participants in the protest. Sure, no ones going to care about this one author who took a stand via "tax evasion," but when one million Democrats protest in the same way, I think people will notice.

Besides, the author of this article knows that any protest is half direct action and half publicity. No one's going to care if you protest in the dark, but when you write about it, talk about it, engage others, gain the interest of the media, etc.--that's when the smallest action can become a movement.

I'm sure no one thought anyone would care about a single hippie burning a draft card, or a single soldier refusing to be deployed to Iraq. But they did it because it was the right thing to do. Sometimes, that is enough to inspire others.