Thoughts on a battleship: Cycle of taxation
Norfolk’s standard tourist gem is the Chrysler Museum with its comprehensive collection of glass from ancient Greece and Rome through Tiffany and into the modern era (mercifully there is only one piece by Dale Chihuly). Karen, Robert, and I visited a newer downtown attraction: the Wisconsin, an Iowa-class battleship completed in 1944, mothballed in the mid-1990s, and installed in Norfolk harbor in December 2000. The Iowa class are the largest battleships ever built by the U.S. Navy. We strolled among the 16-inch guns, festooned with photos of the shells, each of which weighs as much as a Honda Civic, zooming off towards Iraqi military targets during the 1991 Gulf War. It occurred to me that the Wisconsin represents a stage in a cycle of taxation.
We tax ourselves to create a small government capable of taking actions, some of which make foreigners angry. We then have to tax ourselves even more so that our government can build battleships that go forth and drop 2700-lb. shells on our new enemies. After those enemies are all dead and/or cowed the surplus tax revenues are used for more government activity, which angers new and different foreigners. So we have to raise taxes again to build more weapon systems to attack more foreigners. And the cycle continues…
[Visitor info: There is no charge for visiting the Wisconsin and the volunteer guides are very knowledgeable. You can't go below decks, however, because the interior is preserved with dehumidifiers. An oil-powered battleship doesn't figure into the Navy's carrier-centric needs right now. However, the Navy still owns the Wisconsin and may recommission it one day if its capabilities are required.]
