In India, a snake charmer unleashed his cobras at the local tax office, claiming they treated him unjustly and demanded bribes, and he was sick and tired of it. The obvious question: Between tax collectors and cobras, how can you tell them apart?
Coals to Newcastle, Indian edition
8 Responses to Coals to Newcastle, Indian edition
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Grumpy Old Man says:
Rather a well-behaved bunch of reptiles, and no one seems terribly upset.
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Owen Sands says:
People ain’t willing to kiss tax collectors.
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Hector says:
Rod, tax rates in India are too low, and worse, rich people tend not to pay them. (Only 10% of people pay income tax, and the top rate is 30%. The national government receives less than half the tax revenue that they’re legally entitled to. Less than half !
I understand that for whatever reason, conservatives in the U.S. think that rich people pay too much in taxes. I think that’s absurd, but let that pass. I’m not sure that the quite different context of a poor, unequal third world country is the best arena for feeble culture-war jokes.
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Lord Karth says:
Mr. Dreher writes:
“The obvious question: Between tax collectors and cobras, how can you tell them apart?”
Easy. One of them sits in a cozy little basket, hisses at people for no good reason, threatens them and eats rats.
The other one is a snake.
Your servant,
Lord Karth
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Mr. Patrick says:
Cobras actually respond to sensory stimuli.
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MH - secular misanthropist says:
Hector, I took this post as both a statement about corruption of government officials and a humorous rehash of the tropes about tax collectors. It didn’t really strike me as related to this country’s tax war.
Well cobras are snakes that specialize in eating other snakes as well as vermin like rats. I don’t think tax collectors in India are that helpful.