It has become a tradition over the past several years that I protest taxes on “Tax Day” at a local Post Office.
I scheduled the protest to take place from noon until 7pm (even though the Post Office closed at 5) knowing that people would come and go during that time. As I arrived at the Keene, NH Post Office I was thrilled to see other protesters, people I did not know. After parking, taking out my signs and walking towards the sidewalk, I realized the people I saw were protesting in favor of taxes. Specifically, they were protesting in favor of raising taxes on the “1%”. After having a conversation with a few of the other protesters, I decided to stand in a different area as standing near these protesters was obviously confusing passers-by.
After a few minutes several people, who I knew, arrived to help protest in opposition to the IRS. We were spread across the Post Office property, some near the street easily visible to motorists, others on the sidewalk, to converse with pedestrians. As suspected, several fellow protesters left after about two hours. Shortly after my friends left, I was approached by a student at Keene State who claimed to be a Marxist. We had a very lively discussion and agreed to disagree. While we were talking, however, a reporter from the Keene Sentinel approached and took photos. He informed us that he was getting pictures for the newspaper and got out information for a caption and possibly for a short article.
Most of the people I encountered were apathetic; however of the people I did speak with, it was a mixed crowd as far as the people that were receptive and those who were not receptive to the anti-tax message.
In all, I believe that today’s protest was productive and some seeds of liberty were planted.