Today, the wealthiest 1% of Marylanders — those earning more than $535,000 per year — pay a smaller share of their income in state and local taxes than the rest of us.
Orr and Deschenaux. Baltimore Sun Jan 19 2020
Amongst the many recognitions -civil rights leader, author, spiritual teacher, non-violent activist, orator, engineer of the arc of justice, thinker- Dr. King was a ‘thought leader’. During the period in which he lived, one with great turmoil affecting the civil rights for Black people, Dr. King was an innovative leader in moving the agenda for racial and economic justice forward, taking risks in speaking truth to power, and in general motivating the masses to find in themselves the courage to stand up for love and justice. He told us 60 years ago that militarism, racism, and poverty were interconnected and fueled each other then…and today.
Today in Baltimore the cogs of the wheel that drive our charming city remain militarism, racism, and poverty. It is clear that the violence that plagues our city stem from racism and poverty and drives racism and poverty. These three evils and institutionalized behaviors continue to feed each other, live off each other. It will require all three to be addressed simultaneously for us to see a shift in any one of them.
Each year we pay tribute to Dr. King on the day commemorating him. Big private and public institutions have community events, invite speakers for award ceremonies. On those same days the machine that drives these institutions continue perpetuating extreme wealth and income inequalities, bringing violence against the very people inside their institutions and those they claim to serve outside their institutions. Such false tributes to Dr. King stem from leadership that think narrowly about themselves and the profit they make. Meanwhile the gap between them and the lowest paid worker grows along with the budget for policing away crime and poverty. They can all do better, and must if they insist on celebrating Dr. King’s legacy of love and demand for concrete structures leading to justice.
Looking at the way government and private partnerships continue to perpetuate structural violence against the poor and people of color in our city is evident in our taxing sector. The rich for-profit and non-profit businesses pay little or no taxes while using government services. Meanwhile, residents and small businesses pay their share of taxes. How is this an antidote to the three evils of poverty, racism, and militarism? Instead these institutionalized practices feed these evils.
This taxing violence perpetuated on our working class and poor citizens and small businesses is evident in both the for-profit and non-profit taxing strategies in Baltimore. In the violence perpetuated by wealthy businesses, a recent article from the Baltimore Sun:
“…Let’s begin by ending loopholes that allow large, profitable, multistate corporations to use accounting gimmicks to avoid paying income taxes in Maryland. About one-third of the largest corporations in Maryland pay no state income taxes in a given year. Closing two of those loopholes may generate $135?million annually, according to state analysts. Ending or reforming a variety of ineffective business tax credits would net the state another $40 million each year. Neither of these steps would affect average Marylanders, but would ensure that the largest businesses in the state are contributing to the services they benefit from in the same way small, Maryland-based businesses do. We should also address the state’s upside-down tax system. “
A similar analysis of how the non-profit sector violates our city by not paying their fair share of taxes is seen in this recent Baltimore Brew article:
“…The finance department estimates that 11 nonprofits use about $47.6 million worth of municipal services a year after deducting for community benefits and contributions that they make to the city. By this calculation, the four universities and seven hospitals (see chart [in article]) are underpaying the city by $41 million a year – $47 million worth of services minus the $6 million of PILOT payments. Not surprisingly, the city’s biggest nonprofit, Johns Hopkins, gets the most “free” city services under this estimate – $26.1 million in services versus $3.25 million in PILOT payments.”
These three evils, the three cogs in the wheel of how our city operates, account for why our city continues to suffer from high crime, homelessness, lack of sufficient affordable housing, lack of appropriate rehabilitative services in incarcerated populations, and health and wealth inequality. Dr. King’s practice of Mahatma Gandhi’s system of non-violence included the clarity that those with more essentially are robbing from those who have insufficient: “In a real sense all life is interrelated. The agony of the poor enriches the rich. We are inevitably our brother’s keeper because we are our brother’s brother. Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly” (Where do we go from here: Chaos or community?).
Our wealthy corporations and the individuals with greater incomes have not yet realized that the agony of smaller corporations and lower income people who pay their fair share of taxes enriches them. Or they are sleepwalking in a reality of their own making shutting out the signs visible all around them of the effect of their wealth on the backs of the poor.
While this type of extreme and exploitative materialism driven by a white supremacist system fueled by militarism (all rooted in violence) continues in our city, there is reason for optimism on this day of remembering Dr. King. There is greater activism around changing these injustices in our city. There is also more understanding of the root causes of injustice and the intersections even while different groups work on individual parts. And every now and again we see examples of the type of Beloved Community Dr. King envisioned was possible. For example, the increase in worker-owned businesses or cooperatives, the increase in locally/community-owned land and businesses like the solar collective and other local low-dollar investment projects.
More humane business practices like meaningful sharing of profit to staff is also glimpsed every now and again, like when this real estate business, St. Johns Properties, shared $10 million in bonus amongst its 198 employees. To help us wake up, Baltimore could consider a mandatory bonus to employees, not unlike India’s Payment of Bonus Act requiring mandatory bonus payments, up to 30% of wages dependent on salary; or mandatory profit sharing plans that help secure all employees, not just the management. We have more steps to take to fulfill Dr. King’s dream of Beloved Community. Today we celebrate the legend of this great leader and aspire to walk in his steps.