On Being Taken Advantage Of

It's tax season again and I just mailed out the last of the paperwork yesterday. I do my own taxes, but I realize that there are a great many Americans that seek the help of tax professionals-whether they be Certified Public Accountants or hourly associates at H&R Block. I remember not long ago having a discussion with someone about how ethical it is to charge someone in order to do their taxes. Shouldn't they able to do their taxes themselves? Aren't these so-called "tax professionals" ripping taxpayers off-preying on their inabilities or naiveté?

Well, as you might imagine, I don't think so. I'm sitting in the parking lot, waiting for a dentist appointment to have a few cavities filled. When I leave 30-40 minutes from now, I am prepared to write a check for the amount that my insurance does not cover. Is the dentist taking advantage of me? Is he ripping me off? Is he preying on my weakness and my ignorance? After all, they are my teeth. Why should I pay someone else to take care of them? In a couple of hours, I will be taking my cats to the vet and, yes, I will be paying. The vet must be exploiting my lack of veterinary knowledge. Tonight, I will be attending a graduate business course. I do not even need to tell you that this costs money. Surely the university is taking advantage of my inability to grasp the subject matter on my own. After class, I may stop at Starbucks for a latte. They will charge me. But why should I pay for it? Just because I may lack the resources to grow, roast, grind, and extract coffee, does that mean I should have to pay for someone else to make an espresso for me? Surely, Starbucks is taking advantage of me.

I could go on and on. The fact is that every job on Earth exists because someone lacks something. It may be tangible resources like an espresso machine. It may be intellectual capabilities such as business acumen. It may even be-as is more often than not the case in tax preparation-a lack of time. Are these professionals really exploiting us when they require compensation for providing us with what we cannot proves for ourselves? Are they really preying on our weaknesses?

Let's turn the question around. What if we're preying on their strengths? What if we're exploiting their resources, abilities, and time for our own benefit? "Of course you should give me money," my dentist could just as easily say, "but do I really have to fix your teeth? You're just taking advantage of my knowledge, expertise, and time I have set aside for dentistry!"

Let's face it, we take advantage of each other...and that's okay. Sure, we could all be self-sufficient, but we wouldn't be as productive. It works better for everyone when each one of us, as economists say, specialize. I could spend all of time fixing my teeth, watching over my cats, making coffee, etc., bit I'm going to a much poorer job at everything. Why not focus on one thing and let someone else learn how to take care of my teeth, diagnose my cats, and whip me up a fancy coffee beverage?

If anyone thinks he is taking advantage of me for the services he is rendering, the joke is on him. He is the one being exploited.