Alpaca and Omega

Last updated on: June 30, 2012 at 11:13 am by Jeremy Lott

Alpaca and Omega 2012-06-30T11:13:44-07:00 Jeremy Lott

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Wretched start to the morning. Saturday is my one day off — barring catastrophe.

So of course a little after 5 this morning, Real Clear Policy co-editor Joe Lawler informed me, via text because good luck getting a call through right now, that he and about a million other residents of the DC Metro area are without power and therefore without Internet and that the situation is likely to persist. The update was all on my groggy brain and clumsy fingers.

There was one columnal consolation, which I led with: Christopher Caldwell’s usual Saturday essay in the Financial Times. The subject was legal tax dodgers, a subject (and target) which the Brits have got themselves worked about of late. UK Chancellor George Osborne has described the practice of dodging as many taxes as we can get away with as “morally repugnant.” Other prominent polls have joined in with censorious words to that effect.

This political “consensus position,” writes Caldwell, was first handed down to us by the insufferably platitudinous US Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, who said, “I like to pay taxes. With them I buy civilization.”

Yeah, about that, Caldwell explains, “The problem is that where taxes are decided by legislation, they result from a tug-of-war between factions, not from ageless moral wisdom about what constitutes a ‘fair share.’ The UK’s offsetting-mortgage rule and its gift-aid scheme, the US subsidies for ethanol production and alpaca farming — you won’t find those things in the Bible.”

Read the whole thing and please stop by Real Clear Policy while you’re at it. My evil wake up time might as well serve some good end.

Shop Talk

Christopher Caldwell

Oliver Wendell Holmes

Real Clear Policy

taxes

Previous Post

June 29, 2012

Black Keys to Happiness

Next Post

July 1, 2012 That Better Be Insured!

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category 1600 24 Frames Per Second Adventures in Catholicism Evergreen Gay Old Time Hammockonomics Lit Crit Lit Life Paulistas Philosophy Press Crit PSA Q&A Sermons and Soda Water Shop Talk Silly Season Sounds Stupid Stupid People Uncategorized Warm Bucket Brigade Wine and Women Wisdom for the Ages

Select a Month April 2015 February 2015 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What was Cornelius' profession?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Fisherman Carpenter Shepherd Roman centurion