Paying for the murder of innocent people with my tax dollars is something that I cannot do in good conscience. Julia “Butterfly” Hill

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On The Picket Line:

How I live up to my values by resisting federal taxes

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Like most Americans, I supported the government and its war — I can look at an old W2 form to see just how much. I didn’t want to support the government, but my opposition was only an opinion while my support was in dollars and cents.

Finally I decided that refusing moral support isn’t enough. To follow my conscience I have to put my money where my mouth is.

When the invasion of Iraq began, I stopped paying federal income tax and started working for my values instead of against them. I quit my job and deliberately reduced my income to the point where I no longer owe federal income tax. I transformed my life, concentrating on what really matters, so that I can live well and securely on a lower income.

I take a practical approach, learning about the tax laws and about how to live well by being down-to-earth and sensibly frugal. I’m learning how to live within my means without paying federal income tax — honestly, peacefully, and legally.

I think we have to earn a country that we can be proud of through hard work and practical changes, and not with complaints or wishful thinking. This has to start with each one of us putting all of our effort on the side of our values, instead of allowing so much of our effort to be stolen by the tax collector and used against us and what we believe in.

On this blog, I write about this experiment in living my beliefs — why I chose this path and what I’m learning along the way.

— David Gross