Deep In The Heart Of Taxes

It's Not Just A Tax, It's A Cudgel

The old saying is that the only things certain in life are death and taxes. True dat, but we can hope for a system that interferes with freedom the least, keeps taxes at the level of necessity and not at the level of want, and does not support the production of a totalitarian nightmare.

"Elections should be held on April 16th- the day after we pay our income taxes. That is one of the few things that might discourage politicians from being big spenders." ~ Thomas Sowell

In their never ending quest for more control over the people, the powerful search for any weapon they can find. Control of speech through high tech platforms, control of weapons, school curricula designed to shape the mindsets of future citizens into those of serfs, regulations for this, that and the other thing, and the one we are talking about here, taxes.

A basic tenet of Communism is that private property must be eliminated. It is claimed that doing so will eliminate the supposed evils of capitalism, evils that can be more rationally attributed to the human heart than than to any system. Indeed, the evils of the human heart are exacerbated in a communist society with it's concentration of power in the hands of a few, lack of the freedom that private property provides, and an atheistic world view.

A free people needs to be assured that the right of private property will be upheld. Does the existence of property tax conform to this? If you fail to pay the tax the government will take your property, so you are in effect a renter in that you must continue to pay for the privilege of living in your home. One may reasonably suppose that the coercive value of the tax is desirable to any control freaks inhabiting the halls of power.

"Freedom and Property Rights are inseparable. You can't have one without the other." ~ George Washington

There seems to be an effort by the powerful to turn the U.S. citizens, and indeed all peoples of the world, into landless serfs, living in tightly controlled cities in rentals, and not allowed in rural areas. Property tax could be used as a lever to help force this situation simply by raising it to such levels that people are forced out of their homes, with the government then owning all property. Remember, the power to tax is the power to destroy.

"Government is not reason; it is not eloquent; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master." ~ George Washington

(My mother was born in 1910 in Alabama. The district was so poor that they met for school in the basement of a local church, and went to school five months a year. Both of her brothers ran their own businesses and she went to college and became a minister. I think of that whenever I hear that we need a millage increase for schools.)

"We contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle." ~ Winston Churchill

How about federal income tax? One must worry all year about petty details with the realization that the laws are vague enough that not even the experts can agree on what they mean, and are so voluminous that even an expert is unaware of most of the tax code. Why is this allowed? Again, is it not to provide an intimidation factor, to continuously remind one of who is the boss? It should be possible to fund the government without using taxes as intimidation. (For that matter many departments of the federal government may simply be gotten rid of. All of the colleges and great universities in the U.S. were built before the formation of the Department of Education, it's only purpose seeming to be allowing some federal control over what is taught, a violation of the tenth amendment.)

"It's income tax time again, Americans: time to gather up those receipts, get out those tax forms, sharpen up that pencil, and stab yourself in the aorta" ~ Dave Barry

"There is no worse tyranny than to force a man to pay for what he does not want merely because you think it would be good for him." ~ Robert A. Heinlein

"Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it." ~ Ronald Reagan

In my home state of Michigan a petition is being circulated to amend the State's constitution so as to eliminate property tax, believing it to be immoral and that it should be eliminated. The organizers say that in Michigan each year nearly 185,000 people are unable to pay their property taxes and are being pushed toward tax foreclosure. It seems likely that property taxes are another means of control by the powerful, and that the necessities of taxation should be done in such a way as not to enhance their power. (Only 10% of Michigan's school funding comes from property taxes.)

"Collecting more taxes than is absolutely necessary is legalized robbery." ~ Calvin Coolidge

I urge any of my readers who live in Michigan to check out the organizations web site. (A shameless plug for the proposal, since after all, Michigan is where I live.)

https://www.axmitax.org/

"I am in favor of cutting taxes under any circumstances and for any excuse, for any reason, whenever it's possible." ~ Milton Friedman

Stay Brave, Stay Free