No GST

*Warning: extreme foul language alert*

On Thursday, I was working in Hazelton, B.C. One of my jobs took place on a reserve, and when I went to write out their bill, I was promptly reminded that they do not pay GST (the Goods and Services Tax, for you Yankee folk out there). I am so used to just calculating it and including it on the bill, and the thought did not even occur to me that I was on reserve land.

As I left that house, there were two thoughts at the forefront of my mind.

First, the whole reserve-land-for-indians system is a National and Historical Fucking Tragedy. We should be ashamed that our forebearers came up with such an idea, and then allowed it to continue. We should not allow this to continue, yet we do. It remains a National Tragedy to this day, and I hate it.

Second, how much do I hate the Goods and Services Tax? More than words can adequately express. I am not an economist, but I remember hating it nearly fifteen years ago when it was introduced, and I still hate it now. But what really, really irks me, is that there are certain parts of this country where you do not have to pay GST. It all depends on where you live. Oh, and did I mention, it also pretty much depends on the colour of your skin, too. I did not charge GST on the bill for those fine folks (and let me make myself perfectly clear- they were fine folks who I enjoyed serving), yet their neighbours down the road (I shit you not: five minutes away) were charged 7% on top of their bill. I had to do it, too. I had no choice.

Aren't both of these thoughts special? Aren't they wonderful? Aren't they precious?

No. They are not.

It's racism under disguise, and it is creating waves upon waves of state-dependant people. This is not equality.

And I hate it.

But I do not know if it will ever change.