Alice Wilder

Yeah, absolutely.

And I think it would be a very different conversation if our taxes were itemized and it was like, will you be paying the tax for the U.S.

military?

Will you be paying the tax for your local library?

Like, I think people would treat that very differently.

But because it's all, you know, federal taxes and state taxes, we don't have that option.

And so it is about like...

trying to, especially in this economy, like, pay as little as you can.

I was interested in what she said of it's hard to see or feel a direct line between paying our taxes and how we benefit because...

At least for me, my tax dollars pay for the community pool that only costs $4 for me to go swim in after work or the dog park that I take my dog to or my friends who are teachers in public schools.

I feel like I do see the benefits on a really regular basis, at least when I think about my state and local taxes.

It makes me think of this TikTok that I just saw.

It's from this lawyer, Rachel Cohen.

Oh, I did actually see this.

Yeah, she was talking about her decision to not pay her federal income tax this year, which is...

Certainly not a choice that I think she's recommending other people make, but she's paying her state taxes because she generally supports and sees the benefits of her state taxes.

Yeah, people being like, hey, girl, like, I support the ethics behind this, but like, you really might be in a big trouble for kind of a long time if you do this.

I would be very interested to see what happens down the line for her, especially like publicizing it like this.

It's not technically illegal.

It is illegal.