Most remember the classic western The Magnificent Seven for its pounding Elmer Bernstein theme, not its story, but the plot offers a lesson for Ohio in 2025.

The movie opens with vicious bandits invading a village of unarmed farmers for the umpteenth time to rob them -- killing one -- before heading off with a promise to return soon. The farmers, finally at their breaking point, decide to fight back, ultimately hiring a team of seven protectors to defeat the bandits.

To pay those seven, the farmers donate everything they have of value, which works out to $20 per protector. A lot happens after that, but my focus here is the farmers paying up for a common cause – a service none of them can provide individually -- with an aim of future prosperity.

That’s what we do when we pay taxes.

It

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