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Interview Transcript
Topic: Taxation and democracy
Noam Chomsky: In a democracy, April 15th, when you pay your taxes, would be a day of celebration. Here we've gotten together as a community, we've decided on certain policies and now we're moving to implement them by our own participation. That's not the way it's viewed in the United States. That's a day of mourning. There's this alien entity, sort of like a—as if it's from Mars somewhere, which is stealing our hard-earned money from us. We have to give it up, because we have no choice.
Well, that reflects the undermining of even a conception of democracy.
Recorded on: Aug 18, 2009
When Paying Taxes Became Un-American
Professor, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
In a functioning democracy, Noam Chomsky claims, people would celebrate on tax day—why then do most Americans view every April 15th as a day of mourning?
August 26, 2009 | In Politics & Policy
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