Sunday, May 14, 2006
Consider this quotation from a respected state leader:
"Civilization and taxation go hand in hand. Given the former, the latter is inevitable. It is the circulatory, visualizing force that marks the line between civilization and savagery. Taxation to the body politic is what blood is to the human body."
The quote is from Obediah Gardiner of Rockland, and the time is 1908. In his speech, Gardiner, the Worthy Master of the Maine State Grange, advocates for the farmer, who feels he is being taxed unfairly.
"Injustices are everywhere, yet the demand for more revenue is inexorable," Gardiner said.
Timeless and providential, Gardiner's quote surfaces in a new play that will travel Maine beginning this week. The play is called "Taxing Maine," and it's a joint project between the Maine Humanities Council and the Theater at Monmouth.
Theater at Monmouth artistic director David Greenham wrote and acts in the play, along with Monmouth regular Dennis A. Price.
The goal of "Taxing Maine" is to prompt residents and policymakers to think about taxes in a context that's different from the day-to-day water cooler discourse or election-year rhetoric, said Victoria Bonebakker, associate director of the Maine Humanities Council.
America's early roots sprouted from a tax revolt in Boston Harbor.
Given those roots, why did America begin taxing itself? When did taxation become a central political issue? Why are taxes so high in Maine?
Those are some of the questions the play attempts to answer.
"I think a lot of that answer has to do about community and common good. Decisions about taxes and how we spend them say a lot about what we care about, or don't," said Bonebakker.
The Maine Humanities Council commissioned the play for its 30th anniversary. To celebrate, it wanted to create programming that would examine an important policy issue through the lens of the humanities.
When Greenham got the project, he began researching taxes in Maine. The thing first he learned is that tax debate is hardly a contemporary issue. It's been going on since before America became a country.
He said the topic reached a zenith of sorts at the turn of the 20th century, when America's agriculture-based society clashed with the industrial revolution.
The national Grange began talking about taxes in the late-19th century, because landowners and farmers bore the heaviest burden of property taxes. With the industrial revolution, commodities became as valuable as land, and government found a new revenue by taxing products made by American companies.
"We've been trying to figure it out ever since," said Greenham.
He believes people involved at the policy level would be wise to heed the opinions and decisions of their political predecessors.
"We are so self-focused and self-centered as a society that we do not think about the trouble previous generations went through to solve these problems. We think we are the first ones to think about these issues, and we are not," he said.
The play runs about 30 minutes, and is geared toward libraries, schools and other civic organizations statewide. The first performance of "Taxing Maine" will be at Biddeford's McArthur Public Library on Thursday, May 18.
Bonebakker said the goal of "Taxing Maine" is not to change people's opinions about taxes, but to inform with historical context.
She also wants people to have fun. Greenham and Price are terrific actors, she said, and "Taxing Maine" has humorous elements.
"It's a serious subject, but we very much hope people will have fun. It is not intended to be a lecture," she said.
Greenham echoed Bonebakker's goals. "Most of the people that we have talked to, almost everybody to a person says our taxes are too high. And yet, almost everybody to a person says our quality of life in Maine is pretty great and we are fortunate to live here. We feel those two things are connected," he said.
"We just want people to think about it and talk about it."
Staff Writer Bob Keyes can be contacted at 791-6457 or at:
