As many of you know, I grew up poor while living in the States. Up until high school, I benefited from public assistance in the form of free school meals. My single mum’s job had to support the four of us. Her pay was less than my first internship while in uni. But you know who hated taxes? My mum. She, like so many others in her cohort, were convinced that taxes were evil, oppressive, and unfair. In the ’80s, when income tax rates for the highest earners were at 70%, she voted to cut taxes. But how much did she pay in (income) taxes? Zero. How much did other people’s taxes support her and our family? A lot!

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