Happy Thursday, readers and writers. It’s sure been a shaky few months, to say the least, huh? All I can say is that whoever wished to be a part of their own apocalyptic fiction story line better find that genie and unwish this fast. Until then, we’ll have to make do with our reality and carry on as normally as we can. For my American readers, that includes filing taxes in time for the new July 15th deadline. To stay on theme with that deadline, I want to bring you a new review today, this time for a book about everyone’s favorite subject (sarcasm intended): the American tax system. Today’s review is on Rational Tax Reform: Using the Systems Engineering Process to Fix America’s Broken Tax System by Jim Hartung.
Liberal, Conservative, or Moderate, there’s pretty much one thing that all Americans across the political spectrum can agree upon: our tax system is messed up. How? That’s debated—long, loud, and often. We do agree, though, that it’s broken, and we want it fixed. Now. Yet anything worth doing is worth doing right, and that includes the complete reform of our tax system. So, where do we start? Tax break? Tax stimulus? Tax the rich? According to Jim Hartung of Rational Tax Reform, those are just Band-Aids. For the real solution, we must complete an overhaul, not just a quickie resolution to appease the raving masses temporarily. Moreover, we have to find the right execution, and for that, we can no longer turn to politics and policy. We can’t even turn to economics. We must think outside of the box and try something that the bigwigs have never tried before: the Systems Engineering Process.
In Rational Tax Reform: Using the Systems Engineering Process to Fix America’s Broken Tax System, Jim Hartung presents a thorough argument for reforming America’s broken tax system not based on ideology but on facts and logic through a process known as systems engineering, or SE. Hartung takes readers through the SE process as a way to come up with multiple tax reform plans, decide which plan most satisfies our country’s needs, and review the tax system on a regular basis in order to adjust it for America’s ever-evolving needs. To demonstrate the way in which this common sense approach would work, Hartung even details his own plan for tax reform—not the only or even necessarily “right” one, he emphasizes, but one of many viable reforms which could resolve several of our country’s problems in one go.
I am a liberal with liberal parents living in one of California’s few conservative counties where people would much rather shoot first and ask questions later. To say that politics is not one of my favorite topics is an understatement. I have very strong opinions on certain social matters, but with other subjects, I am more willing to look for a compromise based on facts. That is why I find Hartung’s fact-based, rather than ideology-based, approach to taxes so appealing. He uses a method that has been proven time and again by an industry that has countless lives relying on its success (airplanes). With simple, easy-to-understand language, he explains how this same method can be used for the tax system and demonstrates it step-by-step with a viable example based on his own research and several rounds of beta reading/feedback. Most importantly, instead of ignoring or trying to reassign blame when something has gone wrong, as is often the case in ideology-driven politics, Hartung acknowledges catastrophes involved with the use of SE (the Boeing 737 Max crashes) and shows how that is a part of the SE process, not something that disproves it. Honestly, it was just refreshing to see an argument for a tax reform that did not involve degrading anyone based on their income bracket.
As someone with only minimal knowledge of the American tax system, I fully expected this book to be hard for me to follow. I was pleasantly surprised. Everything felt very logical to me, as though the use of SE and many of the ideas in Hartung’s tax reform should have been obvious solutions even before I read this. In fact, it’s very similar to things I have seen used or used myself quite often. SE closely resembles the scientific method as well as the project management template that my high school teachers made us follow during group projects. It’s even like the writer’s process of getting feedback, rewriting, and repeating until the manuscript is ready for editing. The more that I read about SE, the more that I realized it was quite intuitive and so logical that the only surprise is that the government hasn’t used it for policymaking before now.
There are many terms and concepts which I did not know going into this, but thanks to Hartung’s writing and the glossary at the end of this book, the blanks I had were filled in quickly. Several graphs, tables, and examples also helped clear things up for me, and I think that visual learners in particular will appreciate these aids which the author has provided, some from outside sources and some made himself. He also provides multiple visuals just for the fun of it, including political cartoons. While Hartung’s writing is never dry, the topic is still not everyone’s cup of tea, and these fun visuals help rekindle the excitement for those who might struggle staying interested until the end.
If you are looking for a rage-fueled tirade about “liberal snowflakes” or “gun-toting conservatives”, I must emphasize that this book is not for you. Rational Tax Reform is a calm-headed, well-organized work attempting to promote genuine change, and not only in tax reform. After he finishes talking about how SE can work for tax reform and details his own tax reform proposal, Hartung briefly explains how the SE process can be used to resolve America’s twelve most serious problems: healthcare, war and terrorism, climate change, economic inequality, social inequality, the justice system, the immigration policy, education, governance policy, international relations, environmental stability, and, of course, the topic of this book, tax reform. (Note: This book was written and beta read before COVID-19, George Floyd’s murder, and the most recent wave of Black Lives Matter protests, so one must keep that in mind while reading it.) Whether the SE process can truly apply to the other eleven issues as well as it does to tax reform has yet to be seen. I personally have some concerns about the human factor and our ability to set aside our ideologies, biases, and prejudices in these areas to face the true facts so that the SE process can work as it should, but I will remain open-minded.
Overall, I think that Rational Tax Reform by Jim Hartung is the best shot we have at fixing our tax system and our federal budget at the moment. Even if you don’t agree with Hartung’s proposed tax plan, you will find it hard to argue against the use of the SE process. At only 128 pages, it’s a relatively quick read for the subject matter, but you will find yourself returning to it again and again and passing it on so that you can discuss it with those around you.
You can buy Rational Tax Reform as an eBook or in paperback on Amazon. Also make sure to visit Jim Hartung’s website for supplementary information, a seven-minute video, and a free twelve-page booklet (available on PDF).
Designed by Stephanie Hoogstad circa 2011