Don’t evade. Avoid

If further proof were needed that the world has indeed gone mad, then consider the fact that this week the Queen, Mrs Brown’s Boys and Harvey Weinstein can all be referenced in the same sentence. According to the now infamous Paradise Papers it transpires that all of the above (among others) have been eluding taxation by shipping their dosh offshore. As every media outlet has been at pains to stress tax evasion is not the same as tax avoidance. Not paying your taxes by avoiding them is legal and proves you are smart. Not paying your taxes by evading them is illegal — you dumb schmuck. In everyday life if you avoid a collision on the road you are clever. If you evade one, it’s probably because the other driver was actively avoiding — ain’t you the lucky one. And, given the mounting evidence, if you are a woman and have avoided inappropriate sexual behaviour you are shrewd. If you have only evaded it, you work in a convent and are a nun. Count yourself lucky sister.