Tea Party Activism Exposes Myth of Good Living in the Suburbs as Seriously Flawed

Tea Party activists have a point. Property taxes are high. Especially in suburbs. There is a reason for this.

I call it the Santa Claus Myth. Conceptually, there is a big difference between the individual and the collective. In the west, we are all about the individual. At least since a period in history we label, perhaps not correctly, The Enlightenment.

Take the Santa Claus Myth. Someone in a sled driven by flying reindeer delivers presents every Christmas. On an individual level, the myth makes sense. But taken collectively, it starts to break down. At what point does the myth break down? Ten families? One hundred? One hundred thousand? A million?

When you do the logistics required for the Santa Claus Myth to work for a million families, it gets really, really absurd. Doesn't work. Not at all.

The myth of the Good Life Living in the Suburbs belongs in the same category. On an individual level, it makes sense. Taken collectively, it breaks down. Enter the Tea Party and similar movements, largely suburban based, upset over property taxes.

Here in New Jersey, property taxes in suburbs are high. There was an influx of people moving across the border to Pennsylvania where property taxes are lower.

Then collective reality hit home. No jobs in eastern Pennsylvania. Many of those who moved are still working jobs in urban New Jersey (or even New York City) and commuting 3-5 hours a day.

We live in Secaucus, five minutes from Manhattan and three minutes from Giants/Jets football stadium. Most of the town is industrial. UPS and US Mail have warehouses and distribution centers. Many large department stores have outlet stores and distribution centers. The New Jersey turnpike runs through the east part of town.

Big rigs rumble through town all day and night. At 9 a.m. in the morning the line of brown UPS trucks leaving the distribution center is a sight to behold. Why talk about this? Taxes, my friends. Taxes.

Unlike WalMart, these industries contribute to the tax base of Secaucus. The town has top notch schools and services. We put up with the noise and big rigs and traffic. The suburbs are quiet. Yes, they are. But without industry, where is the tax base?

People's homes, that's where. That's why suburban property taxes are so high. Who else is going to pay for the schools and fix the potholes? Suburban living, sold to people on an individual basis, breaks down in the collective.

My question to suburban voters is this - who is going to pay for your schools, roads, water and sewer? You live out in some rural area, probably on land once somebody's farm, and you're miles from any industry. Just like you wanted. All quiet and nice, away from all that urban noise, crime and diversity.

You can believe in Santa Claus if you want, but somebody still has to pay for all those presents. Welcome to collective reality. It's the place we need to go when our individual realities break down and don't work any more.