Responsible parenting and taxes

Reader comment on: Eric Cohen on Irving Kristol

Submitted by Paul F (United States), Dec 17, 2009 15:37

As a 35 year old man with 3 young children, I represent the "uncommonly sensible" person of whom Irving Kristol spoke:

"The common people in such a democracy are not uncommonly wise, but their experience tends to make them uncommonly sensible. They learn their economics by taking out a mortgage, they learn their politics by watching the local school board in action, and they learn the impossibility of "social engineering" by trying to raise their children to be decent human beings. These people are the bedrock of bourgeois capitalism, and it is on this rock that our modern democracies have been built."

I appreciate the tax break because of my children, but that's not why I have children. I have children for the emotional and spiritual fulfillment that they bring. Ultimately, I believe that I am more than compensating the nation and society for the few thousand dollars of tax breaks that I receive by raising up children who will be responsible contributors to society, who in turn will create their own strong family units and be the producers of society. However, there's no way to distinguish a responsible parent from a lousy parent. That's why a simplified tax code that does away with income taxes is best.

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