New (2006) series of letters by and about Don Schrader, who
really stirs 'em up in Albuquerque. From Weekly
Alibi. And see earlier exchange (2003) below.
Say No to Sniveling
Dear Alibi, The
Alibi recently published two letters criticizing Don Schrader's letter
“Crap No One Needs” [Letters, “Reverend Don” and “Born in the U.S.A.,”
Aug. 31-Sept. 6]. The implication of the letters is that Don is somehow
a parasite to our society. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Yes, Don has very
strong beliefs and he lives them more consistently than any other
Albuquerque resident. As such, he makes most of the rest of us uncomfortable
because we are all compromised compared to Don's standard of behavior.
Don never said
he refuses to pay taxes. He refuses to pay federal taxes. The sidewalks
he treads (always on shod feet, incidentally) are paved with the city
property taxes he pays through his rent. The UNM facilities he patronizes
are paid for in part by the state sales taxes he pays when he buys
his food at La Moñtanita, like many of the rest of us. It is federal
taxes he objects to, since roughly half of every federal tax dollar
is used to pay for militarism (war preparations, war waging, war casualties,
past, present and future), regardless of which party is in the White
House or in control of Congress. In his effort to minimize complicity
with militarism he highlights the hypocrisy in the rest of us. As
for his “sniveling,” I've known Don for two decades and have never
known him to snivel about anything. He states his positions in a forthright,
mature manner and lets the chips fall as they may. Instead of engaging
in either inaccurate accusations or emotional character assassinations,
these two readers might want to walk a mile in Don's shoes before
they criticize his life decisions.
Chuck Hosking
Albuquerque
Patron Saint
of Barefoot Travelers
Dear Alibi, Count
on a Don Schrader letter to bring out the capitalist fundamentalists
screaming “blasphemy!” Two [Letters, “Reverend Don” and “Born in the
U.S.A.,” Aug. 31-Sept. 6] accused Don, as always, of being an ungrateful
leech, claiming that if you want sidewalks and schools then you should
shut up about Our Boys slaughtering Asians. Sidewalks and schools
are funded by local taxes: sales tax, property assessment, etc. Your
IRS tithe goes overwhelmingly for Guys With Guns and Fat-Assed Analysts
telling us that we can’t afford Social Security or Medicare anymore.
To say that our
soldiers mean well is pointless. Has there ever been an invading army
that thinks they’re doing it for the sake of chaos and evil? Soldiers
always believe they are killing so their mothers and daughters will
be safe. It’s just comical to assert that military obedience training
makes you more qualified than Don to analyze foreign policy. Hooray
for Saint Don!
Paul Bossert Albuquerque
Born in the
U.S.A. Dear Alibi, [RE: Letters, “Crap No One Needs,” Aug. 24-30]
Don Schrader,
congratulations on being worthless to society! You should be proud.
Yes, the war in
Iraq is a bad thing. I will not argue about that. That is only a small
portion of where tax money goes, however. Consider health care, education
and various other programs the government offers. And while this particular
war is not necessary, they sometimes unfortunately are. You may choose
to live as a communist or survivalist or anarchist or worthless leech
... or whatever the hell you want to call yourself, but many of the
rest of us are quite happy as capitalists living in a democratic republic,
and are willing to fight to defend this ideal. If we don't fight to
defend our ideals, others will fight us to push theirs.
You also chose
to make some snide comments about our soldiers. I guess this is to
be expected of a sniveling coward such as yourself. You choose to
let others do your dirty work while you sit and whine. Speaking as
someone who's seen the Air Force, I can assure you that soldiers are
humans, same as everyone else. Soldiers have the same fears as anyone
else and, yes, they also have consciences. They made the choice, however,
to defend what they believe in with their lives, whatever other motivations
they may have had. But there's good news for you yet, Don! In the
U.S.A., thanks much to the efforts of our brave and wonderful soldiers,
you have the right to be the worthless and sniveling little whiner
that you are! And being an American myself, I have the right to point
that out to you! Isn't that just swell?
Randall Sobien
Albuquerque
Reverend Don Dear Alibi, [RE: Letters, “Crap No One Needs,” Aug.
24-30]
Mr. Schrader,
as you’ve relentlessly pointed out in the Albuquerque press for the
last 20-plus years, you don’t pay taxes and encourage the rest of
us to live as you do if we protest the war machine. You obviously
don’t have the luxury of caring for dependents, for one thing. I applaud
you for not supporting the war, but I defy you to prove that you do
not ever benefit from the many other tax programs the rest of us fund,
including the one used to put a sidewalk under your (bare) protesting
feet.
Jill Gatwood Albuquerque
(ORIGINAL LETTER IN THIS FALL ’06 SERIES)
Crap No One Needs
Dear Alibi, Marching
for peace while paying for war is like praying for health while hogging
out on junk food! Soldiers risk their bodies and their lives to wage
war, but, sadly, most U.S. peace activists do not break their addiction
of buying what no one needs in order to live simply below the federal
income taxable level to stop baying for war! As long as you spend
like crazy for crap no one needs, you will insist on having an income
larger than the taxable level. Your buying addiction keeps you paying
year after year from every paycheck for U.S. atrocities all over the
world.
Would you pay
to have your pet cats and dogs tortured and bombed? Would you pay
to cripple, make homeless and murder neighborhood children on your
street? The children of Iraq, Lebanon and the West Bank are no less
precious, no less human than the children on your street.
Your federal income
tax pays to burn babies, to paralyze parents, to blind grandparents
... I refused to be a soldier in 1969 during the Vietnam War. For
me, as a conscientious objector to all wars, to pay federal income
tax to train other Americans, largely the poor and people of color,
to become professional hired killers to murder or command with no
conscience would be more evil than being a soldier myself. Many U.S.
progressives spend endless energy and hours analyzing, measuring,
protecting and cursing the beast (the U.S. Empire) while they keep
on feeding it with their federal income tax dollars and their consumer
dollars. Many U.S. progressives are addicted to the loot of this empire
while they damn the blood! The loot always is drenched in blood.
I have no right
to pay tax to do to other people what I do not want them to do to
me. Nothing in life is more important than refusing to pay federal
income tax for war—no matter who is president. The best way to refuse
to pay federal income tax for war, with no fines and no threats from
the IRS, is to live simply, below the federal income taxable level.
The federal income
taxable level for 2006 for a single person under 65 who is not blind
is $8,450, for a married couple filing together—$16,900. I lived well
all of 2005 on $3,885—less than the taxable level. I have paid no
federal income tax for war for 27 years. I pledge never to pay the
rest of my life.
Don Schrader Albuquerque
The following
exchange from the Letters pages of the Weekly Alibi (Albuquerque,
NM, www.Alibi.com) got such a response
on my radio show and another live "reading", that I offer
it here as a fine tribute to free speech, to Letters sections in general
and to the Alibi's in particular, where the letters tend to be passionate...
Don, FYI, is a fixture of the university neighborhood, often seen
walking and tanning his golden body along the main drag.
Don's World (April 17, 2003)
Dear Alibi,
No job, salary, relationships, degree, car, house, art, furniture,
trip or gadgets are worth paying federal income tax to rob, terrorize,
blind, cripple, paralyze, make homeless and murder our sisters and
brothers in Iraq and worldwide.
The main purpose of the U.S. war machine is to make sure that most
Americans, especially the greediest, keep on hogging and stealing the
wealth of the world. The best way to boycott the U.S. war machine,
with no fines and no threats from the IRS, is to live simply under
the taxable level. The taxable level this year for a single, sighted,
under 65-year-old person is $7,800. I lived well last year on $3,760.
I have owned no car since I returned to Albuquerque in 1988. The last
time I rode in any car was April 7, 2001. I hate cars because I hate
wars for oil, poisoned air, the horror of global warming, highways
smothering fertile soil ... I love to walk! I would not trade my 12'
by 14' home for the most luxurious mansion in the world.
I am glad I have no refrigerator, TV, VCR, car, computer, credit cards,
business suit, jet travel, phone, microwave, air conditioner... I wash
my clothes by hand at home. I am glad I consume no booze, cigarettes,
restaurant meals, junk food, meat, dairy, cooked food, illegal drugs,
prescription drugs ... I am glad I have no doctor, dentist, medical
insurance. I am an all-raw foods vegetarian devoted to natural health.
I yearn for passionate lifelong romance with a man, but I will not
surrender or compromise my war tax refusal and my living simply for
any man on Earth!
I refused to be a soldier in 1969 during the Vietnam War. For me,
as a conscientious objector to pay federal income tax to train other
Americans, largely the poor and people of color, to become professional
hired killers to murder on command with no conscience would be more
evil than being a soldier myself. My life is an all-out public boycott
of the U.S. Empire every day as long as I live.
Don Schrader
Albuquerque
_________________________________________
Don Doesn't Get It (April 24, 2003)
Dear Alibi,
Don Schrader? Here we go again. Blah, blah, blah. You are an anachronism.
You are out of place and time. You long for a passionate lifelong romance--good
luck! You won't find it parading your ass up and down Central. Your
landlord should kick your naked ass out of that 12' x 14' box you call
home, so that you can see what the world is really like. No computer,
no TV: Where do you come by your warped view of the world? Besides
the Alibi, what is your source of news of current events? Do you actually
peruse a newspaper or news magazine? Or do you base your fucked-up
image of the country on the evil passersby in oil-burners who honk
at your foolish and simplistic propagandistic signs?
By the way, in the interest of "full disclosure"--what is
the source of your $3,760? Since you don't work, do you produce anything
to earn an income? Or do you live off some trust fund from a deceased
parent? Are you milking the system for some disability? Do you vote?
If you don't vote, your opinion means nothing anyway--you are irrelevant.
Do you realize the "U.S. War Machine" maintains your right
to live and act the way you do, and yes--even to insanely rant against
the "Empire." I think it would be appropriate--and divinely
poetic--to drop your semi-clad butt into Saddam's Iraq--say, from a
Huey helicopter--and watch as your Iraqi brothers and sisters' beat
you for being naked, cut out your tongue for speaking out and then
stone you to death for being gay. Such an "enlightened" society
might illustrate to you just how lucky you are to live in the United
States, where people only laugh at the sight of you.
Gene Anderson,
employed, tax-paying, SUV-driving, on-line, satellite, phone, radio/tv,
insured, licensed and contributor to society and the economy-- and
proud of it.
Albuquerque
