from It Gets Me Down
This Really Is America interviews a member of Ra.Ta.C.C.
Transcript:
TRIA: Tell us who you are and what you do?
John Smith: I am an accountant working for the IRS, and I'm also a founding member of the RADICAL Tax Collection Collective (Ra.Ta.C.C.).
TRIA: What’s so radical about tax collecting?
John Smith: I truly believe tax collecting can be an instrument of social change. I echo the sentiments famously expressed in A.O.C.’s dress: “Tax the rich”. Taxation is one of the few powerful tools that we have at our disposal to redistribute resources and allocate them to serve the needs of the people. The question within our democratic system is how to make it more direct and more participatory.
TRIA: Can radical action be carried out within the government?
John Smith: I believe so, and I believe that we must. As a partisan of the Invisible Party I truly believe that the only way we can enact significant and lasting positive social change is by having committed revolutionaries within institutions and specially playing important roles within government. I have comrades working in other agencies as well, including the ATF, the FBI and several police departments. I believe our presence within these institutions is key to reduce and eventually eliminate police brutality and gun violence. We can’t leave these tasks in the hands of the partisans of the status quo and expect anything to happen.
TRIA: How does the Ra.Ta.C.C. operate?
John Smith: The Ra.Ta.C.C. operates in conjunction with anti-fascist networks that track fascists and far-right sympathizers and in conjunction with our privileged access to information within our respective agencies we audit far-right sympathizers who might be evading taxes or filing them improperly and we make sure that they pay the right amount. We also help our fellow comrades file their taxes properly and with due diligence. I think it’s really important to consider how burnout, mental health issues and functional diversity makes it difficult for many people to file this paperwork. We make sure to educate our comrades as well as give them the assistance they need so that they don’t face problems with the law and our colleagues don’t have to call them up or knock at their door.
TRIA: What would you say in response to criticism saying that you’re just selling out by working for the government?
John Smith: I would in turn ask them if they think they’re doing any better by working as a cashier for a big chain store or staring at spreadsheets for an NGO. I think we need to push beyond the naivety of purity politics and gate-keeping that only serve as poor consolation prizes for being ineffective. The government will not disappear any time soon, and we can’t pretend it will just disappear. By giving up positions of power up to the worst who are only looking after their own private interests, we get what we have today. I don’t advocate for lesser-evilism, voting for any of the current careerist politicians, but instead to vote for our true comrades who are truly RADICAL and to encourage them to pursue these positions.
TRIA: And what would you say in response to the people that would say that tax payers' money goes towards funding wars, prisons and police departments?
John Smith: That’s the same as saying that you wouldn’t give money to a beggar in the street because they were just going to use it for drugs. The fact remains that United States government is the single greatest provider of social services and vital infrastructure for the American people. Each year they put millions of dollars towards that and there’s no other way to fund that other than through tax payers’ money. Anyone can talk big, but look at who’s putting their money where their mouth is, and who’s putting in the real work. To say that all these services can be substituted by activists carrying out mutual aid efforts in their spare time is pure demagoguery, they’re making promises they can’t deliver, just like politicians. Real RADICALS committed the real positive social change understand this, just like real anti-capitalists understand that you can’t skip stages, that only a sufficiently advanced capitalism can develop the means to supersede it and only then will the time be ripe to seize the means of production. In the same way, real anarchists understand that anarchy is not chaos, but judicious self-government where everybody participates. To attempt to knock-down a government by force, on top of hard to do, will likely end in mob rule or tyranny, specially if said government was democratic to begin with. The anarchist tension is the one which seeks to further democracy, to expand it, so our common goal as RADICALS is to democratize every sphere of life, including all aspects of government and the economy, including tax collection.
TRIA: That’s all the time we have for today, thank you for your time. Where can people find you if they want to learn more?
John Smith: You may find our blog on substack and medium, and some of our writing has already been uploaded to The Anarchist Library. You may also find us on all social media platforms.
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Why Jesus the anarchist sat with tax collectors
When Lord Jesus lived and ministered on earth, Judea was under Roman authority. The latter were looking for those from the people of Israel who were deprived of principles and greedy of wealth, and recruited these people to collect heavy taxes imposed on Israel. In addition to collecting taxes, that were very heavy, tax-collectors were taking more to gather wealth for them. Therefore, they were hated a lot by people.
The Pharisees, on the other hand, were the party that claimed to be the most faithful of the Old Testament Law, but have added many human commandments to this law and imposed them on people. Other Jews believed that Pharisees were the most faithful and took as fact what the Pharisees were saying or doing. Let’s see now some examples from Scripture that will show us how Pharisees and the nation approached tax-collectors and sinners.
When Jesus entered the house of Levi, the tax-collector, which later became the Apostle Matthew …
The Pharisees and their scribes began grumbling at His disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with the tax collectors and sinners?” (Luke 5:30)(NASB)
So, the Pharisees would never allow themselves to eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners.
The evangelist Luke tells us the following:
Now all the tax collectors and the sinners were coming near Him to listen to Him. Both the Pharisees and the scribes began to grumble, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.” (Luke 15:1-2)(NASB)
According to this verse, it appears that Pharisees did not even allow themselves to sit in the same place together with tax collectors and sinners.
Zaccheus, the tax collector was so eager to listen to the teaching of the Lord Jesus about salvation that he overlooked the contempt from people and any other shame and he climbed up into a sycamore tree, so that he might see Jesus when He passed by. Lord Jesus looked at the state of his heart and decided to stop at his home.
When they saw it, they all began to grumble, saying, “He has gone to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.” (Luke 19:7)(NASB)
As you see, this time not only the Pharisees, but all present there were grumbling and judging Jesus for the fact that He went to be a guest of a tax collector, whom they called a sinner. This shows us that they would have never done so.
Why Lord Jesus received tax collectors and sinners, but He asks us to take attitude towards those who insist to live in sin?
Because tax collectors and sinners, about which is written in the Gospels came to Jesus to receive salvation and repented from their hearts, their lives were changed and they no longer lived in sin and hypocrisy. When Jesus came into the house of Zaccheus, here’s what happened:
Zaccheus stopped and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, half of my possessions I will give to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will give back four times as much.” (Luke 19:8)(NASB)
Do you see how this man repented and how much was his life transformed by faith in Lord Jesus? He did not continue to live in sin and those who insist on living sinfully and try to consider or present themselves as ”brothers” or “sisters”, Lord Jesus says that we must address them as Pharisees and all the people addressed tax collectors and sinners in the biblical passages cited above.
So, what does it mean to treat the ”brother” or the “sister” who were excluded from the Church as a Gentile or a tax collector? To not associate with them. But, remember, this attitude may be taken only after you yourself have confronted him, then, if he does not correct, take with you witnesses and if he does not correct this time, tell the Church about him. Only after being removed from the Church (and this means to be delivered to Satan) you should not have any dealings with him or her.
It is not easy to do so and is sad to see how people are afraid to confront the man who lives in sins, which they know.
Holy shit it’s Luke from the
Holy shit it’s Luke from the bible
Zacchaeus was a wee little man
Zacchaeus was a wee little man
And a wee little man was he
I still remember that shit from Sunday school.
And I saw Esau sitting on a
And I saw Esau sitting on a see-saw was a popular infant chant amongst the rebellious 6 year olds.
this is a prank but it does have a lot in common with how real
anarchists think now a days and for that reason it isn't quite as funny as i hoped. I know i'm supposed to have an anti-war spirit during these previous holidays, but this is straight up anne-tee-fuh.
I see nothing wrong with this
I see nothing wrong with this. I support working with or for government agencies, whether directly or by proxy. Specially if they’re cops, F.B.I., C.I.A., N.S.A., D.H.S., Defense Department, DARPA, RAND, and things like that.