So if we take the idea that all taxation is theft as true, what would be the best way to fund the government without any involuntary seizing of assets?
There isn’t any if voluntary is the only choice.
Well, most of the people who think that all taxation is theft are probably also the people who want to have no government at all.
The alternative, which would be somewhat similar to taxation, and be 100% legit, would be to charge for use of currency.
So…a sales tax?
The government could set up businesses to compete with private companies and use the profits. Also things like toll roads, and fee for services - charge for police protection, for instance.
It wouldn’t work, of course - governments are there to do things that private companies can’t or shouldn’t do, and fees for services would morph into taxation under a different name almost at once. And the temptation to pass a law limiting competition for government-run enterprises is almost irresistible.
Taxation is theft in the same way that arrests are kidnapping - that is, they’re aren’t.
Regards,
Shodan
Are debit/credit cards legally considered currency? The law authorizes Congress to issue currency as paper bills and metal coins. No mention of electronic transactions.
Like a national [del]sales[/del] transaction [del]tax[/del] fee?
In a simplified form the US GDP is $18 trillion.
The 2017 Federal budget is $3.7 trillion.
So we would need a 21% transaction fee rate.
I only get taxed on my purchases, not my earnings.
Let’s do it.
How did it work before the 16th Amendment was passed, in 1913? The American government was getting operating funds from SOMEWHERE for almost a century and half. Customs and tarriffs?
JP Morgan and other bankers.
Yup. At least the very early government was funded by tariffs.
Taxation is not theft. I friggin’ hate that argument, because it is all “I believe that it is theft!” without any cogent argument attached.
Modern Society is not possible without the current levels of taxation.
Or as my favorite quote on the subject says;
“I like paying taxes. With them I buy Civilization.”
- Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. , Supreme Court Justice 1902-1932
Good article describing pre tax days:
Can’t wrap my head around the premise. Sure there are people who believe that they don’t get out what they pay in, but with theft you get nothing. So I don’t know, I’ll suggest government sponsored bake sales as a means to fund the government.
Then the question becomes: If I don’t buy a cookie, do I still get govt. services?
The operating budget was very low, even adjusting for inflation. The biggest expense was the post office. Military expenses were low because, except in times of war, the military was small (rarely above 50k, compared to 1.5 million today) and never left US territory. Roads were maintained by the states. There were no social services, health regulations, or much in the way of regulating interstate commerce, so there was no need for the agencies that oversee that.
Tariffs plus postage fees brought in plenty of money to run everything.
The other problem is that when the government has profitable assets, private companies begin campaigns to have those assets privatized (ie sold to private companies at significantly less than their market value) so the private companies can collect the profits.
I’m waiting for somebody to make the argument that taxation is a violation of the First Amendment. Legal precedents have established that money is a form of speech. So if the government is forcibly taking some of my money it is infringing my ability to speak.
Invoices. Lots and lots of invoices.
It’s regressive. No way it would pass unless we paired it with UBI and single payer health care so we’d be looking closer to a 35% tax.
Of course with those, it would probably be fairly popular.
So your purchases are transactions, but your paychecks aren’t? Why?