Tax Havens and Teenage Apathy

History was made earlier this month on October 3, 2021. Odds are, you haven’t the slightest idea why. Now, I know the release of 11.9 million documents about taxes isn’t the sort of thing that’ll fire up your average high schooler, but just hear me out. An unprecedented amount of leaked images, emails, spreadsheets and beyond, which are called the Pandora Papers, have revealed to the world a brand new one—the gloriously secretive (and famously ethical) world of politicians, and the rich folk who pay them off.

The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, in their release of the aforementioned Pandora Papers, estimates that between $5.6 trillion and $32 trillion has been hidden from the public in offshore companies and bank accounts. I’ll put it in other words: trillions have been removed from the economy and left safely in the pockets of people both abundant in riches and lacking in morals. It is entirely possible that between 1 to 6% of all money that exists is being held in offshore accounts, where the billionaires that own it don’t spend a dime in corporate tax. In many tax haven territories, these same people are permitted the delights of anonymity—which is why leaks like the Pandora Papers (and their predecessors, the Paradise and Panama Papers) are so important for anyone left who believes in justice.

Now, the astute reader may have noticed me gesture toward a vague “they” throughout this article, a sort of caricatured “elite.” I haven’t actually mentioned any specifics—allow me to remedy that with some examples of those implicated:

• American companies including Apple Inc. and Nike
• Musicians ranging from Ringo Starr and Elton John to Shakira and Swedish House Mafia
• Top donors to both the Republican and Democratic Parties
• The royal families of the United Kingdom, Jordan, Spain, Qatar, and Morocco
• 35 current and former national leaders from around the globe

The list goes on and on, and I could happily rattle off names like Tony Blair and Vladimir Putin until the end of time. I, too, was entirely shocked when I found out that the rich, famous, and elite engage in shady finances. But that’s not my point. My point is that nobody seems to care. That is, none of the middle class American high schoolers I talk to seem to care. In some ways, it makes sense—most of us don’t pay taxes. Certainly, then, none of us could be bothered to think about tax-dodgers from countries we couldn’t point out on a map. And you know what? I think that’s a tragedy.

There exists the old adage, “taxation is theft.” Listen closely in the halls of Hunterdon Central. You just might hear it from the same untaxed teenagers I know and love. It’s a peculiar phrase, and not one I intend to dissect. Instead, I propose an alternative. Dodging taxation is theft. It is theft from those who line the pockets of politicians and CEOs with votes and purchases, who don’t see a cent returned to their communities. It is theft from those living in tax haven territories, who don’t see a cent returned to their communities. It is theft from the millions of people across the globe and in your backyard living paycheck to paycheck—and to what end? So modern day royalty can grab up more real estate? 

Small town America declines every day. Our ancient roads are decayed, our businesses outcompeted, our communities underfunded. And that’s just America—by global standards, we have it easy. So much could be done about poverty around the world. I don’t think it extreme to say those with the means to pay for it should. And let’s be honest, the people I’m talking about certainly have the means.

So why did I write this? Am I just jealous that there are people richer than me, and savvy enough to keep it that way? No. I’m angry. I’m angry that the idea that wealth is being hoarded in such a cartoonish fashion doesn’t get everyone angry. I’m angry that enough of us are comfortable enough with our lives not to care about the billions who can’t afford to be. I don’t have a solution to global inequality—I’d like to think that if anyone did, we might have solved it by now. But I know that apathy isn’t the answer. Apathy achieves nothing, and it would do us all some good to abandon it. When the rich steal trillions that they don’t need, and we don’t scream and holler in protest, our silence matters. Our silence is louder than any action one person might take. Right now? Our silence is deafening.