Believe me, I’ve had relatives, (ex) friends, co-workers and neighbours who all “think” this way, and they were all white:
I was just speaking to a black woman who asked me about “taxes”. She wanted to know my amount so that she would know hers. I began to explain to her that the amount you pay differs based on salary, number of kids, marital status, and so on. She looked at me dumbfounded and asked, “what do you mean the amount you pay?”
I’ve gotten questions about “taxes” several before. I tried to explain the general idea of how it works, though I’m not an accountant. They never seemed to grasp it.Today the answer struck me: to them, “taxes” is just another welfare program.
Just like “housing” means means a near-free apartment with free utilities, just like lawyer means public defender, just like everything else in their life.
They can’t imagine paying taxes because they’ve never done it.
“Taxes” is what you receive at the beginning of the year from the government to pay for your credit card bills from the holiday season.
