A quick note on offshore detention and Civil Disobedience

I read chapter 4 of Thoreau's 'Civil Disobedience', and I think to myself of reasons why I should pay my taxes. Unlike Thoreau, I actually believe in governance, so undermining government for the fact that it is government and might deign to govern is insufficient. Even when I disagree with a government's actions, I err on the side of stability and continue my inactivity - for I, unlike Thoreau, have the opportunity for a government to come to power that aligns with at least some of my desires (likely Thoreau didn't see an anarchist party rising to dismantle his government any time soon). I would not countenance someone standing against the government of my preference simply because they preferred those who lost, or never gained power.

Put simply, I crave stability, because it brings comfort. I value the safety of my democracy over and above its inefficiency and failures and apathy. Indeed, my comfort stems from that apathy - because it is apathy, not suffrage, that breeds stability. And yet the comfort I love so much is the same comfort those fleeing to our shores desire.

But if I withdrew my financial support of the government, what would it achieve? They have the power to enforce their right over my money, and would just take it. Long before that I would likely lose my job (for they are the government's tax collector), and with it my home and my possessions I keep safe within. I could not shop (for stores are the government's tax collectors). At a stroke I can make myself destitute, and the government will continue its unspeakable acts in my name. Meanwhile, those that flee will do so leaving their jobs, their homes and all their possessions, to board a boat and come to live with me - they would rather nothing and be here. Perhaps they already have nothing.

Thoreau is talking of a great and terrible thing - slavery. I believe our own government is guilty of equally great and terrible things - our treatment of asylum seekers. I tell myself that if I take action against such a wrong, I set a precedent for others to take the same action against things they perceive as wrong, but that I would think far too much an edge case to be worthy of such disobedience. That threatens to cloud my judgement, and distract me from the truth of the matter - this is not an edge case. Someone has died needlessly at the hands of my government, more could follow. Others are left in squalid detention for no crime.

In the end, I will not stop paying my taxes - partly out of philosophical objection, partly out of pragmatism... mostly out of fear. I cannot bear to lose what I have to help those who want it. But that thought is scarier even than losing everything. So while I cannot do what Thoreau would have me do, I must do something. I have to do enough to counterbalance the 'practical support' I give to my government in their detention of asylum seekers.

The federal government's revenue for 2013-14 was $387.7 billion. Of that, the government spends $2.87 billion on offshore detention - 0.74% of their budget. I paid nearly $1600 in income tax last year. If I say I spent the rest of my income on things that attracted GST, I gave the government another $2300 odd dollars. To counteract my financial impact on offshore detention, I need to donate $28.86 to a charity that supports asylum seekers. By donating $35, I have in fact swung my practical support towards opposition of offshore detention by 21.2%.

Damn you for being so compelling, Thoreau.