One of life's certainties

Still alive!  After sharing some not-so-favorable thoughts about religion and church in yesterday's blog entry I wasn't certain I'd cast eyes upon another day.  But here I are, so here I go again.

While my presence on the planet wasn't a certainty today, or any other day I suppose, I've been thinking lately about one of life's two certainties:  taxes.  July probably isn't the usual suspect when it comes to thinking about taxes.....February through mid-April take the cake when it comes to tax stress.....but they've been on my mind because of the road trip my daughters and I took last week to several other states.

In three states - Wisconsin, Indiana, and Michigan - we had the opportunity to travel on highways that weren't interstate freeways, the "backroads" if you will.  You don't really get a good feel for the land until you get off the main roads and travel some roads less taken, but the feeling I got from most of these less-taken paths was that of jarring and pounding and frustration.  The roads were horrible!  Narrow, cracked, potholes galore, shoddy striping....Michigan's roads were the worst, Indiana's and Wisconsin's not much better.  Beautiful landscapes in all three, and by most appearances all three would be nice states to live in.  As long as you don't have to drive anywhere.

So as we jostled along I used the opportunity to impart wisdom to my children.  "Daughters," said I, "the next time you hear one of your grandfathers whining about Minnesota taxes, remember these roads!"  They didn't seem to get the gist of my message, or any of my message for that matter, what with the thundering noise of tires hitting holes and all of their ears plugged with device connections.  So I kept the rest of my thoughts to myself.

Until now.  Minnesota is a heavily taxed state.  The extensive (five minutes worth) research I've done on tax burden rankings by state shows The Land of 10,000 Lakes could also be nicknamed "The Land of 10,000 Taxes".  Rankings vary a bit from source to source, but Minnesota consistently lands in the top ten most heavily taxed states, usually in the top five.  And yes, that stinks.  Nobody likes to pay taxes, and while we Minnesotans love seeing our state ranked highly in quality of life, education, and sporting venues (venues, not teams) we aren't clapping each other on the back over our high tax ranking, that's for sure.  However....

We've got pretty good roads to drive on, especially when weather extremes get thrown into the equation.  And not only do we have those roads they are kept astoundingly clear in the winter.  We've got that superb education system with teachers who are compensated well.  Having a strong quality of life depends on education, health care, safety, mobility....all tax-supported aspects of living in a "free" country.

Michigan's roads were the worst - a state which falls far behind Minnesota in tax burden.  Oklahoma is lightly taxed relative to the North Star State; their teachers seemingly make pennies to my Minnesota dollar.  Indiana and Wisconsin also lag behind Minnesota in tax burden, and they, too, had obvious cracks in their infrastructure.  Illinois, on the other hand, is right there with Minnesota in tax burden....perhaps that's why we all were so impressed with the modern beauty of downtown Chicago?

Again, nobody enjoys paying taxes.  But everyone loves a smooth ride on the highway.  We all want a strong education for our kids.  We want clean water and inviting parks.  We Minnesotans have all of that and more.  It took some bumpy rides in foreign lands for me to figure it out, but maybe the cost of living here is offset by the amenities I, you, and we take for granted too often.  So quit your whining and pay your taxes, and then be thankful to live in a state where our lives are positively impacted by the burden we all share.  Or, go away and try life in a land with fewer taxes...if you're a whiner here about taxes you'll assuredly be a whiner there about pretty much everything else.  And good riddance to you.

Ok then, another day, another touchy topic.  Lightly danced around this one I think, compared to yesterday's Bible bashing.  Tomorrow........tomorrow is going to be tricky.  I want to write about politics, but I absolutely hate politics and all things associated with them.  So I'm not sure how that will go....is it possible to type while frothing at the mouth?