New plastic bag tax in the city, and reactions.

The city has a new plastic bag tax (7 cents per every plastic bag that the store gives you), and I've heard 2 people bitch about it so far.

One was a(n older) (white) (female) Trump supporter I met at a downtown bar, and the other was a (young) (black) (female) Uber driver who I met when me and a friend hitched an Uber back from a distant neighborhood.

Both were like, "Taxes in the city are so high, you have to pay seven cents a bag now, what's up with that!?!?!".

In each case, I was like, "It's because plastic bags pollute, and we want less of them."

When I said that, they just couldn't seem to get it, they felt so much like their personal choices were being infringed on for no good reason.

In fact, it was almost like they were *looking* for a reason to feel put upon!

Honestly, though, their response to that very small tax makes no sense, when you think about it; at most it's like $15 a year, but it's more the principle of the thing or the knowledge that they're getting penalized.

I almost wonder if it makes people more kneejerk anti-tax, to have small taxes like that.  Maybe you're better off without them, or maybe you should tax more, since you'll get that much of a reaction even to a small tax?