|
|||
 |
|||
|
|
|
|
|
|||
 |
|||
|
|
|
|
The Feudal and Socialist Nature of Taxation the institution of taxation, it was August Comte, the father of modern sociology and an avid champion of socialism. Here is how he put the crucial idea: We are born under a load of obligations of every kind, to our predecessors, to our successors, to our contemporaries. After our birth these obligations increase or accumulate, for it is some time before we can return any service.... This ["to live for others"], the definitive formula of human morality, gives a direct sanction exclusively to our instincts of benevolence, the common source of happiness and duty. [Man must serve] Humanity, whose we are entirely. ("Cathechisme positiviste" [Paris: Temple de l’humanite, 1957].) It is this view, more than any other, that lies behind the belief that taxation is just, that from birth on everyone in society is obligated to pay with some portion of his or her life for whatever benefits he or she enjoys. We are, therefore, in bondage from the start, with no question about what we have chosen, whether we have voluntarily assumed our debts. The opposite view, laid out first by John Locke, is that each of us comes into the world free and independent and as adults we then take up various tasks, including certain responsibilities toward others, as a matter of our free choice. But no one owns us, our labor, prior to our having made a free decision about the matter. By this latter view taxation is an extortion scheme - nothing less. You are born, and despite never having been asked whether you choose to sign up for various benefits, when they are delivered to you, you are forced to pay up. That’s exactly how organized criminals collect funds from those whom they "protect." If you do not pay, the protectors will come and get you and hurt you - in the case of the government, fine or even jail you, good and hard. So, here is the deal: I "cheat" on my taxes in my heart - just as Jimmy Carter confessed to Playboy magazine in 1976 that he had lust in his heart - only while Carter thought he was sinning, I am in the right. Only because the consequences of my refusing to pay what the government claims I must pay would be devastating to me, I continue to pay each year. But I completely deny that the government has it coming to it. No, neither the rationale Comte gave, nor the original one that established taxation as a fixture on the political landscape - namely, the feudal practice whereby everything was the property of the monarch so we had to pay rent - provides even a scintilla of support for this repeated, vicious extortion perpetrated upon all those who earn a living and conduct trade. The government doesn’t own us, or the land and other property we own, but at most is supposed to be serving us as our bodyguard, period, for which we should pay whatever we agree to pay (via, say, a contract fee or voluntary payments of some other kind). Sadly, this unfinished part of the American Revolution - which placed sovereignty in the laps of the citizens, having reclaimed it from the phony monarchs - needs to be completed as soon as possible. Taxation gives carte blanche to the worst character traits of politicians and bureaucrats, namely, rapaciousness. We all have it in us at times, of course, but even when we are tempted to rob, steal, burglarize, or extort from others, the criminal law deters us. We may not reach into our neighbor’s pocket when we lack for something - we must earn the money or borrow it from willing lenders. But government - which, sadly, has been empowered by millions of thoughtless citizens so as to let them have all sorts of things on the pretense of getting it all for free - is unrestrained and for the sake of gaining and keeping power it will rob, steal, seize and extort us all. Yes, many of us go along with this vicious institution, often because we lack the power to resist, and also often because we have been bamboozled into believing we couldn’t get even what we need from government without taxation. But that is a lie. It is time we wake up to it and do something to stop the tyranny that is the essential tool behind taxation.
Discuss this Article (3 messages) |
 |
 |
|
 |
|
