WhatsofunnyA FINE IS A TAX FOR DOING WRONG. A TAX IS A FINE FOR DOING WELL.
What’s so funny about this? I like this play on words because it switches two words around which mean almost the same thing but end up meaning the opposite. These words are FINE and TAX. Both relate having to pay some money to the government, whether it be local, state, or national. You’ve probably heard the saying that the only thing certain in life is death and taxes. Both are indeed inevitable. No one expects to live forever, though some people die trying. By the same token, no one expects not to pay taxes, though here too, plenty of people try to avoid it, usually to no avail. Taxes are what we pay for the privilege of living in human society. Humans are social animals with a variety of skills. None of us is self-sufficient. We can’t do it alone. We need the help of our fellow humans in order to survive. We are all expected to use our unique skills to contribute to the welfare of society in general. And this doesn’t come cheap. We have to pay for the cops, fireman, sanitation workers, teachers, schools, hospitals, doctors, nurses, etc. all provided by the state to varying degrees, depending on what country you live in. No one LIKES to pay taxes but it is our duty. A fine, on the other hand, is what we pay when we’ve broken society’s laws. I’m not talking about major criminal acts like robbery and murder. It’s more like driving above the speed limit, littering in the street, not having a license for your dog. Stuff like that. Stuff that we try to get away with but when caught we have to pay the fine.
But in the US we have a progressive tax system. That means that the richer you are the more you pay. It’s based on the assumption that the more you have the more you can afford to pay. It’s a fair system but it definitely means that you’re being taxed for being successful. If you’re broke and a failure, you don’t have to pay. Fines on the other hand are the opposite. The more you misbehave, the worse you are, the more you pay. You just have to be careful when you get attacks from a tax break that can leave you broke.
And THAT’s what’s so funny!
This joke and explanation were inspired by my Florida buddy, Ken Kingery and my Aikido sempai, Gordon Wormser, both FINE fellows
