To the editor;
In the April 2 edition of the Cloverdale Reporter, S. Harder asks a question that deserves an answer:
If a person does not have children, why should they pay school taxes?
A simple answer is that it is an affirmation of life. An essential feature of life is that it reproduces itself. For some of us that means providing a few children for the next generation.
For all of us it means providing all children of future generations the social infrastructure to thrive.
There are people who supply food to our community; there are people who build roads, create shelter and handle our finances.
These people were once children who benefited from a publicly-funded education.
Unfortunately, we are also bequeathing to the next generation the notion of generosity as a negotiation tool rather than as a virtue.
“I will be generous only if I can get something out of it – a lottery ticket, a tax receipt, a chocolate bar.”
As tax time approaches, I challenge S. Harder to consider her tax payments as a generous gift of hope to future generations.
Bart Begalka
Cloverdale
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