The Spam Tax

Since 1955, April 15 has been “Tax Day” in the United States—the deadline for filing your state and federal income tax returns.

Therefore, it’s common for alternative taxation models to be discussed today.  For example, one such alternative is the FairTax. 

I would like to propose another alternative—The Spam Tax.

I Don’t Like Spam!

Although never a big fan of the “food” version of Spam, I am proposing a tax on the electronic version, as defined by Wikipedia:

“Spam is the abuse of electronic messaging systems to send unsolicited bulk messages indiscriminately.  While the most widely recognized form of spam is e-mail spam, the term is applied to similar abuses in other media: instant messaging spam, Usenet newsgroup spam, Web search engine spam, spam in blogs, wiki spam, online classified ads spam, mobile phone messaging spam, Internet forum spam, junk fax transmissions, social networking spam, television advertising and file sharing network spam.”

Can you even imagine how much money could be raised if we could find a viable way to tax spam?

Even conservative estimates indicate almost 80% of all e-mail sent world-wide is spam.  A similar percentage of blog comments are spam, and spam generating bots are quite prevalent on Twitter and other microblogging and social networking services.

Of course, I have absolutely no idea how we would actually implement The Spam Tax. 

Even if I did, Gelatinous Glaze (aka “The Spam Lobby” in Washington, D.C.) would demand a pound of chopped shoulder meat from every member of the United States Congress known to be under their influence (aka “in the tiny tin can of Big Spam”).

If only there was a way to start a grassroots movement that could convince our political leaders that now is the time for change.

Wait a minute!  I’ve got it!  Every one of us could send our Representatives and Senators an e-mail message!

Perhaps something like the following:

I Like Spam! (the Monty Python sketch)

No respectable discussion of spam can be said to be truly complete without the obligatory inclusion of the Monty Python sketch.

If you are having trouble viewing this video, then you can watch it on YouTube by clicking on this link: Spam (Monty Python)