Somebody's gotta say it

It's not such a bad thing to pay taxes.
Really.
I know, we're all walking around saying how awful it is we have to pay all these taxes and how the government is taking such a huge chunk of our money and how it's going to get worse.
But look at what we're getting for our money:
Thirteen years of school per child.
Police protection.
Roads around town and across the states.
Fire stations with all the latest equipment just down the block.
A military.
A space program.
Libraries.
The Smithsonian museums.
Head Start.
National Parks.
And yes, federal leaders looking out for our best interests.
Yes.
Do you know how many people in the world don't have those things? Those protections?

We Americans have been known to be a very generous people. Trouble in Haiti -- we're there, or our money is. Trouble in Europe in 1940? In Afghanistan in 2010? We're there -- or our money is. Not to conquer, not to control. To help and to free.

My guess is if our neighborhood didn't have fire protection, for example, and someone came to us and said: would you contribute to buying a fire truck so we can protect ourselves -- my guess is we'd give willingly. And if it turned out our neighbor couldn't contribute as much because he made less and had medical expenses besides, we'd be willing to pay more than an equal share.

So, taxes are just that. Contributing to a general need in relation to your ability to contribute.

And if our government comes to us and says: we had to help some businesses to keep the world economy from collapsing, wouldn't we be willing to pitch in and help?

It's easy to see it as an outsider. Take Greece. The government is trying to control its financial problems by lowering expenses and raising income, and the people are in revolt. Can't the people see that the government has to do that for the country to stay solvent?

Can't we see it?
Come on, America. Let's get past the petty, pouty, "give me this and give me that but don't make me pay for it" mentality.
Let's be willing to contribute to the whole. And let's do it with grace.