[Buddha-l] NYTimes.com: Let Us Pray for Wealth

[Franz Metcalf]

Richard et al.,

You reminisced,

>> Paying my taxes is indeed a beautiful, and
>> highly Buddhist, act.
>
> This was how I felt about paying taxes when I lived in Canada. I 
> actually
> loved paying taxes....

Yes, I felt this way too, at least about local and provincial taxes in 
British Columbia. Playing every day in Vancouver's lovely parks, taking 
my two year old to the "West Side Family Centre" which was essentially 
a preschool subsidized by the province, and biking through the parks 
and the university's endowment lands brought home to me in the most 
physical way the vital role of government in providing things 
individuals simply cannot. Sadly, my time in Canada coincided with the 
rise of its conservative government and its increasing rhetoric and 
practice of international aggression, so I would not have been so 
sanguine about paying federal taxes. In fact, there were articles in 
the alternative press about how British Columbians could avoid paying 
those taxes. I believe a similar situation exists in the United States. 
Stan, is this so? Have you looked into it?

Perhaps we should treat governments as we treat family members. Each 
one will do things we can't stand, but our job is not to reject them 
for that, but rather to treat them with wisdom and compassion. If the 
gigantic US federal government spends one billionth of its resources on 
something we abhor (as Stan does abortions), then we should chastise it 
and redirect it along other paths. Perhaps we can even withhold that 
portion of our tax. But we cannot simply condemn the creature and walk 
away.

Meanwhile, how should governments treat *us*? What is the 
responsibility of leaders (and thus governments)? Here's one answer 
from the--mandatory Buddhist content--Pali Canon: leaders need to 
uphold frequent meetings, harmony in interaction of leaders, respect 
for traditions and precedents, respect and active support for elders, 
protection of the physical rights of women, respect and active support 
for religious sites and practices, and respect and active support for 
awakened ones. For these leaders and their countries," the furtherance 
of their welfare and prosperity is to be expected, not their decline" 
(from the Mahaparinibanna Sutta, Digha Nikaya 16).

I won't hold my breath,

Franz