time to throw the tea in the harbor?

as i am here in italy, suffering through another election year, i would like to draw attention to taxes. yes - taxes. super exciting, i know.

sales tax in texas - 8.25%
sales tax in italy - 20% (on everything - every little thing).

tax bracket i found myself in last year - 15%
tax bracket of most of my acquaintances here in italy - 38%

that means most of the people i know paid nearly 60% of their earnings into taxes last year. berlusconi, italy's little mussolini, passed a law that gave a tax break to those folks who really need it, including people that owned a television channel (that would be himself, since he owns most of the italian communication network).

this is why everything here is done "senza scontrino" or "senza fattura." if you don't want a receipt, you will likely get a price cut (if you know to ask for it). at first i kind of turned my nose up at this cavalier side-stepping of "duty," this casual tax evasion....but when i talk to my friends who earn less than 1000 euro a month (not considered low here) and who pay 400 euro/month in rent, plus 200-300/month in electricity, gas, etc...and then i try to do the math, putting 600 of those 1000 euro into my taxes pile....i don't know...something with my numbers always comes out negative....this is why all my italian friends live at home until they are married and have two incomes...and why a lot of them live at home still, married or not.