Conversations For Transformation: Essays Inspired By The Ideas Of Werner Erhard

Conversations For Transformation

Essays By Laurence Platt

Inspired By The Ideas Of Werner Erhard

And More
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Render Unto Cæsar

Cowboy Cottage, East Napa, California, USA

March 28, 2024


"Render unto Cæsar the things which are Cæsar's, and unto God the things that are God's." ... Jesus Christ, quoted by both apostles Matthew and Mark

"In this world, nothing can be said to be certain except death and taxes." ... Benjamin Franklin - often misquoted as "Nothing is certain except death and taxes."

"'cause I'm the taxman, yeah I'm the taxman, and you're working for no one but me." ... George Harrison, Taxman
This essay, Render Unto Cæsar, was written at the same time as Catastrophize.

I am indebted to Paige Rose PhD who contributed material for this conversation.


Tax season is upon us around about now in these United States. Although they aren't due until mid-April, I'm ready to file my tax returns in early January. A friend and I were talking about our fiduciary obligation to pay taxes. He said (it was but a thinly disguised complaint actually) "I make $100,000.00 a year, of which I have to pay $15,000.00  in taxes, so I only get to keep $85,000.00 of the $100,000.00 I make.". "That's  not true" I said, "You make $85,000.00 a year in the game you make money in, not $100,000.00, and of the $85,000.00 you make in the game, you get to keep every penny. Stop lying about it.".

In this world, nothing can be said to be certain except death and taxes. That's Benjamin Franklin speaking. It's unavoidable that the rules of the game one is in, lives in, and makes money in, gowith  (as Alan Watts may have said) paying taxes. This is not a matter of opinion or a matter of interpretation, nor is it a matter of what's fair  and / or not  fair. And it's not worth debating, refuting and / or having a position about. The rules of the game one makes money in, gowith paying taxes - period. To be specific, the rules of the game one makes money in and gets to keep the money one makes, gowith paying taxes.

But look: it's even more than that actually, it's much  more: it's that paying taxes honestly and equitably, is a matter of honoring your word. "Honoring my word?"  he asked quizzically. "Yes it is" I said, "Honoring your word! To be specific, it's a matter of honoring the Moral, Ethical And Legal Standards  of your word).". "Buuut ..." he protested, "I never gave my word  to pay taxes?". "Well, actually you did" I pressed, "You gave your word to pay taxes, by living on the planet and playing in the game you make money in. Paying taxes is intrinsic to, and implicitly written into the rules of the game you make money in.".

<aside>

Memorize Werner's Six Definitions Of Word* in the footnote below, paying careful attention to how paying your taxes honors word-6: the Moral, Ethical And Legal Standards of your word.

<un-aside>

I assert that the reluctance / resistance which is almost always there in the background when it comes time to pay our taxes, has two components. In the first place, we don't keep in the foreground the fact that we never make money in isolation. We make money in a game in which one of the cardinal rules is paying taxes to sustain, support, and underwrite the very game we make money in. In the second, the very notion that paying taxes is actually a matter of honoring your word (in particular, that it's a matter of honoring the Moral, Ethical And Legal Standards of your word) is the 1,000 pound gorilla in the room.

What paying my taxes comes down to, is honoring my word. The message this embodies is invaluable. I offer it to you here as a kind of legend, as a kind of folk lore  on a par with an Aesop's fable  (if you will), the moral of which is: an out-integrity act ie an act which violates integrity ie an act which doesn't honor my word, has unavoidable, inescapable consequences, the most immediate and damning of which is the diminution of who I am as a human being.

The bottom line is twofold. One, pay your taxes: accurately, unselfishly, unhesitatingly (consider you're fortunate: paying taxes is proof you made money in the game). That's what it is to "render unto Cæsar the things which are Cæsar's". Two, live life from the possibility of being transformed. That's what it is to "render unto God the things that are God's". And I'm mindful that invoking "God / the things that are God's" adds a somewhat distractingly unnecessary significance to living life transformed. It's a trap in working with / citing pithily salient quotes. Fortunately, once recognized it's an easy trap to escape from.

* Footnote: Six Definitions Of Word:

With permission, I've transcribed Werner's Six Definitions Of Word* here verbatim. Memorize them, paying careful attention to word-6: the Moral, Ethical And Legal Standards of word. They are:



Word‑1.  What You Said:

Whatever you have said you will do or will not do, and in the case of do, by when you said you would do it;


Word‑2.  What You Know:

Whatever you know to do or know not to do, and in the case of do, doing it as you know it is meant to be done and doing it on time, unless you have explicitly said to the contrary;


Word‑3.  What Is Expected:

Whatever you are expected to do or not do (even when not explicitly expressed), and in the case of do, doing it on time, unless you have explicitly said to the contrary;


Word‑4.  What You Say Is So:

Whenever you have given your word to others as to the existence of some thing or some state of the world, your word includes being willing to be held accountable that the others would find your evidence for what you have asserted also makes what you have asserted valid for themselves;


Word‑5.  What You Stand For:

What you stand for is fundamental to who you are for yourself and who you are for others. What you stand for is a declaration constituted by

1)  who you hold yourself to be for yourself as that for which you can be counted on from yourself (whether specifically articulated by you or not), and

2)  who you hold yourself out to be for others as that for which you can be counted on by others (or have allowed others to believe as that for which you can be counted on).
Word‑6.  Moral, Ethical And Legal Standards:

The social moral standards, the group ethical standards and the governmental legal standards of right and wrong, good and bad behavior, in the society, groups and state in which one enjoys the benefits of membership are also part of one's word (what one is expected to do) unless

a)  one has explicitly and publicly expressed an intention to not keep one or more of these standards, and

b)  one is willing to bear the costs of refusing to conform to these standards (the rules of the game one is in).
This presentation, delivery, and style of these Six Definitions Of Word* is all my own work.

The Six Definitions Of Word* themselves were first originated, distinguished, and articulated by Werner Erhard in the Leadership Course.


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