I didn’t know what to expect when I walked into a war tax resisters’ meeting Monday evening, but I was surprised to find that among these government-defiers were mild-mannered old ladies, farmers, school children and writers.

The gathering, which was held in a private residence, and the stories the speakers told gave me glimpses into how these people had come to feel so strongly about a cause that they were willing to illegally withhold money from the government.

An immigrant from El Salvador, Julio Serrao, told of how he became a pacifist when the civil war in his home country destroyed his life and left 31 of his family members dead.

Amy Saechao and Portia Posey, seniors in Oakland high schools and members of BAY-Peace, a group that works to get military recruiters out of schools, were awarded $1,500 by the war tax resisters. Posey talked about her frustration over how so many of her peers felt that entering military service was the only way to obtain job training and education when they couldn’t afford to pay for school.

San Francisco author David Gross told of how his own experience in becoming a war tax resister led him to do so much research that he published a book on the history of war tax resistance over the last 2,000 years. Gross became a “legal” war tax resister by quitting his job and lowering his income to below a taxable amount after the United States sent troops to Iraq in 2003.

Several speakers said that civil disobedience—tax resistance and other forms—is often necessary to make the government listen to the public’s opinions.

“Fear keeps a lot of people in line,” said Martha Cain, a local schoolteacher who has been withholding a portion of her income tax for more than 25 years. “We’d like to see thousands of people taking a small risk.”

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