I read a lot of tax-related articles and they come from a variety of sources, but it is not every day that I find one in Rolling Stone. I have to say that the article entitled “The Biggest Tax Scam Ever” by Tim Dickinson is very good; a very detailed scholarly piece about big corporations avoiding billions of dollars in taxes right under our noses. I enjoyed the story, but I didn’t love that it came out of Rolling Stone.
I can tell I’m feeling the urge to do one of those “When I was a kid…” rants, but I’ll try to refrain. I know that Rolling Stone has always published political-type “news” stories. In fact, some would probably say its political writers are more skilled at what they do than their music staff is at picking the best music (here I refer specifically to the fact that Rolling Stone did not initially give Led Zeppelin favorable reviews — obviously a serious mistake, and one that cannot really be forgiven, even after all these years). However, when I used to read Rolling Stone (in the 1980s) I seem to remember it being mostly a music and pop culture magazine with serious topics scattered here and there. These days the publication looks like it is being written for an audience that is … well, MY AGE! *facepalm*
I tend to think of it this way. When a Burger King employee gets off work and goes out to dinner, the last thing that person wants to eat is Burger King. And the last thing I want to read about when I pick up a music magazine after work is taxes. Am I the only one!?