Tax time

For the last few years at this time I am reminded of the old adage that money does not buy happiness and recall a very good book on the subject. The book was written by the TMQ and is called "The Progress Paradox" if anyone is interested in looking it up.

What brings this issue to mind is of course tax season. But it's probably not in the way that you think. I now pay more in taxes each year than my total income my first year in Ontario. Not that I am now rich, or even middle class for that matter but that I was apparently really poor in 1998. I can honestly say that life is differnet now but not nessesarily happier. For example back when I was poor my job wasn't soul killing, it was just hard, dangerous and severely underpaid because it required no edumakation.

Now I have a different set of concerns and material lusts to make me fret. I have bought the unaffordable toys of my courrier days and replaced those desires with new unafordable toys. This is the crux of the progress paradox - in material terms what we want is more. What you have is irrelevant because what you really want is not something specific it's just more. Basically our brains don't understand the concept of enough. It was probably some sort of evolutionary benefit up until about 200 years ago.

The interesting part of the book is that it goes on to offer a solution - kindness of all things. The odd thing is that it's not only kindness received but kindness given and returned that matters the most to an individual's happiness. I can't attest to that you'll have to read the book but what I can attest to is quintupling your income doesn't make you happier.

The author also goes on to mention that believing in something greater than yourself makes people happier regardless of what that greater thing is. I'm still working out the details on that one but when I've got it sorted out you and all your savings will be welcome to join my cult.

Oh and one last thing - back when I hardly paid any taxes my blood didn't boil at how badly misused/wasted they are. Yes we do see benefits from our taxes but most of us are not getting good value for our money in my opinion.