BIBFRAME Work

Title

My tax dollars

Type

• Text
• Monograph

Contribution

• Braunstein, Ruth, 1981- (author )

Subject

• Taxation--Moral and ethical aspects--United States (LCSH)
• BUSINESS & ECONOMICS / Taxation / General (BISACSH)
• Taxpayer compliance--United States (LCSH)
• Taxation--Social aspects--United States (LCSH)
• SOCIAL SCIENCE / Sociology / Social Theory (BISACSH)

Language

• English

Classification

• LCC: HJ2381 .B66 2025 (Assigner: dlc) (Status: used by assigner)
• BUS064000
• SOC026040
• DDC: 336.200973 (Assigner: dlc)

Content

• text

Supplementary content

• index
• bibliography

Summary

"When the mundane reality of paying taxes takes on moral significance. In My Tax Dollars, Ruth Braunstein maps the contested moral landscape in which Americans experience and make sense of the tax system. Braunstein tells the stories of Americans who view taxpaying as more than a mundane chore: antigovernment tax defiers who challenge the legitimacy of the tax system, antiwar activists who resist the use of their taxes to fund war, antiabortion activists against "taxpayer funded abortions," and a diverse group of people who promote taxpaying as a moral good. Though taxpaying is often portrayed as dull and technical, exposure to collective rituals, civic education, propaganda, and protest transforms the practice for many Americans into either a sacred rite of citizenship or a profane threat to what they hold dear. These sacred and profane meanings can apply to the act of taxpaying itself or to the specific uses of tax dollars. Despite intense disagreement about these meanings, politically diverse Americans engaged in both taxpaying and tax resistance valorize the individual taxpayer and "my tax dollars."Braunstein explores the profound implications of this meaning making for tax consent, the legitimacy of the tax system, and citizens' broader understandings of their political relationships. Going beyond the usual focus on tax policy, Braunstein's innovative view of taxation through the lens of cultural sociology shows how citizens in value-diverse societies coalesce around shared visions of the sacred and fears of the profane"-- Provided by publisher.

Table of Contents

Introduction -- Part 1: the act of taxpaying: sacred and profane -- Lifeblood of government -- Starving the beast -- Part 2: the use of tax dollars: sacred and profane -- What we pay for a civilized society -- If you work for peace, stop paying for war -- No taxpayer funding for abortion -- Part 3: convergences: money and the sacred individual -- The almighty dollar -- The sacred taxpayer -- Conclusion.

Authorized Access Point

Braunstein, Ruth, 1981-. My tax dollars

Geographic Coverage

• United States

Admin Metadata

• Date: 2026-09-11T20:17:44.762888+00:00
• Agent: cbc
• Status: c
• Derived from: 23938853

Admin Metadata

• Date: 2026-09-11
• Cataloger id: Unknown
• Description level: http://id.loc.gov/ontologies/bibframe-2-6-0/
• Description language: eng
• Description authentication: pcc