What If Taxes Were Optional?

When trust in the system fades, even the most basic duty starts to feel like a burden.

Sometimes I wonder—what if taxes came with an option? Either pay the government or donate the same amount to charity.

Of course, I know why taxes exist. That’s how a country runs: roads, hospitals, schools, the entire framework of daily life. But here in the Philippines, it often isn’t visible. What you see instead are broken streets, underfunded hospitals, and overcrowded classrooms—while scandals keep surfacing.

So people end up asking: Where did my tax go? That’s when the thought feels tempting: maybe it would make more sense to just give it directly to a cause, where the impact is clear and real.

Another thought: what if people could actually choose where their tax goes? If your community drainage needs fixing, you direct it to public works. If schools need support, you channel it there. But in the present situation, it feels more realistic to just save the money and build your own drainage system at home.

That’s why people become more self-reliant—because their taxes don’t seem to have any real effect on the order of life around them.

It’s not charity that competes with taxes—it’s trust.

ᴛʸᵖⁱⁿᵍ ᴏᵘᵗ ᵒᶠ ᵗʰᵉ ʙˡᵘᵉ ᵈᵃʳᵉᵐ ᵐᵘˢⁱᶜ ᵇˡᵒᵍ

Nothing to Fix • Darem Placer

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