The Genius of Money

In chapter 8 of John Bloom’s “Genius of Money,” we learn about the artist George de La Tour who had a very unique style of painting. His paintings and the stories of paintings always had a single central light form – a candle. This candle created shadows and light, illuminated certain faces and hid others, telling the story in the painting and portraying it as realistically as possible.

In the chapter, Bloom discusses a specific painting by George de La Tour called “The Payment of Taxes.” The painting discusses the government’s system of taxation and how it impacts the poor and the middle class. It shows an old man opening his purse to pay taxes to the collector, while the collector tightly holds on to his bag of money. It also shows another man using a candle – the only source of light – to help the old man see better but the actual purpose is so everyone can see the coins better. There is also another man, clad in rich clothes, with his face hidden in the shadows. He portrays the rich government and corporations that are not taxed as much as the middle class old man who bears the burden of the government. The painting displays how money operates, how it is the center of most things and how we are all attached to it i.e. we could be the government or the tax payer or the collector in our own lives.

                                                           The Payment of Taxes

The question that it leaves you wondering with is that are taxes ever good? Do they ever support the poor and the public? Should the rich be taxed equally or more than the poor? Should taxes be abolished because they only make rich governments but poor citizens? The chapter is only three pages and can definitely be expanded upon to get a better idea of the tax system and how we play a role in it.