In 2005, Orem enacted a small ongoing Cultural Arts and Recreation Enrichment (CARE) Tax to enhance both recreation and cultural arts in the City of Orem. Although I greatly appreciate the good intentions for which this tax was enacted, I also worry that those good intentions are being implemented in a less-than-ideal manner.
If a cause is truly worth supporting, then its champions should never need to compel anyone to support it, but should be able to freely persuade them instead—perhaps not everyone, but enough. And persuasion is the right way to achieve almost everything; coercion should generally be reserved ONLY as a necessary last resort in defense.
We charter political systems, including municipalities, to use their coercive powers to expertly assist us in defending our equal God-given (or natural) rights so that we may remain free. And this includes being free to spend our money as we choose, including on the arts. But our generosity should remain an individual choice, not a collective one.
Whenever our politicians communalize our paychecks and then divvy-up our income among those organizations that best curry their favor, they are not defending but violating our rights. And this practice is not only wrong in principle but it is also generally counterproductive, as the decisions of the few are inferior to the decisions of the many.
If any group wants my money, then they should ask me for it directly, not ask my politicians for my money. We’re all better-off when we stop letting our politicians decide how to engage in philanthropy on our behalf, and instead learn to think for ourselves. Asserting self-responsibility is a vital part of the freedom that we should ideally enjoy.
And this is why, due to matters of both principle and effectiveness, as we Oremites debate renewing this CARE Tax during 2023, we should choose to privatize this process instead. And, as our city councilors spend less time donating our money for us, they’ll be able to spend more time on defending our rights, which is their core duty.
David for Liberty 