Bachelors’ independence, not equality
A New York Times op-ed by John Gilbert McCurdy celebrates the Fourth of July as the
dawn of a new era when personal differences — first marital status, but later sex and race — no longer mattered in determining one’s citizenship.
Well, unmarried citizenship is not in question; but equal treatment is still far off. Has the USA really matured past the biases of its founding fathers? Compare some of McCurdy’s examples to the present:
As the delegates created a new nation, they assailed sexual immorality, luxury and sloth — all of which they associated with the single life. …
Nor was it just inside Independence Hall that bachelors were scorned. For 80 years, Pennsylvania had collected a levy on single men who earned wages but did not own property. This tax had been devised as a means of easing the burden on men with large families, but it had become increasingly onerous for the colony’s bachelors. Since the 1740s, landless singles had been paying higher taxes than 90 percent of property owners.
In our current national income tax structure, the net bonus enjoyed by married couples is about $30 Billion per year.
Celebrate your Independence Day by writing a letter to the NY Times editors to remind them that there’s more work to be done. A few years ago, AtMP posted tips and sample letters on income taxes here. Send your letter to letters@nytimes.com, and post a copy here for us to read!
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