Joe Mathews: A meditation on life and taxes

It’s hard to know if the ballot measure to undo Proposition 13 will have its intended effect

Zocalo commentator Joe Mathews wants to believe in Proposition 15, the November ballot measure that would get rid of limits on taxing commercial properties. Those limits were set by Proposition 13 more than 40 years ago, and Mathews has long argued that the historic measure decimated California schools and has hamstrung state government in all sorts of ways. But after a visit to Jarvis’s old house - now a Buddhist center - Mathews says he’s feeling better about his uncertainty.

Howard Jarvis and the Dharmapala

And when emptiness dispels the extreme of non-existence,

And if you understand how emptiness arises as cause and effect,

You will never be captivated by views grasping at extremes.

Joe Mathews writes the Connecting California column forZócalo Public Square.