J.J. Smith's "Numbers"

To the man saying he does not approve of taxes,

Perhaps, you do not understand how taxes help sustain our infrastructure or how they empower people who, in effect, help build our economy. Maybe you do not see that your taxes provide my father government assistance for food and shelter and his hospital visits for his mental illness and kidney failure. Maybe you do not see how your money helps pave those golden roads you prefer to drive on every day; that money further ensures your tires do not blow out.

In Arizona, where my father sleeps, the streets are cracked, dilapidated due to people refusing to add more taxes. It appears as if a bomb of some substantial size was dropped upon the city.

And the children owning next-to-nothing, family surviving solely off of food stamps—those children need education. Public school offers this opportunity.

Do you recall libraries? Benjamin Franklin founded these because he realized the poorer classes were empowered through knowledge. They accessed books and were self-taught. They started businesses from the ground-up. They established the wealth of this country.

When you call 911 because your grandmother is not breathing—when she has no pulse—when your house is ablaze, your belongings consumed in uncontrollable flames, who is there to protect you? Who paid the servicemen their salaries?

Be you rich, pay your share—pay a percentage equatable to those less fortunate. Be you poor, pay your share—utilize these privileges; empower yourself—your children, your successors.

Maybe you do not see it, but I do. Taxes made my existence possible. They allowed my father and mother to live appropriately so that they could meet and create me.

I am grateful for millions of Americans who worked hard for me. They worked hard for you.

We are all racing toward the same inevitability, regardless of class, stature, creed, or capacity.

Thank you, strangers. I will return the favor.