I have family members who position themselves, like so many conservatives do, as over-taxed and under appreciated, cheated by government,  burdened to carry a lazy and corrupt society forward.

Though I love and deeply respect these family members, I’ve never sympathized with this argument and often find myself at a loss to articulate exactly why it is that I disagree.  After all, I am a liberal educator.  Of course I believe in taxes. Of course, I don’t think poor people are lazy.  But how could I express this?