Taxation
Taxes are essential to a functioning Government and come in many forms. Tariffs can be placed on imports and exports. Fines can be levied for breaking the law. While necessary, taxes can also become an unavoidable burden. Taxes are now levied against private land ownership, private purchases, wealth and income, some charity, goods and services, utilities, employment, production, and even death. The private exchange of goods is technically illegal without taxation. Originally, taxes were thought of as a necessary evil, only to exist in the least intrusive way possible. Taxes were meant to be voluntary and weren’t to be paid on necessities. Some of us remember when food and water wasn’t taxed, because they are a necessity and are impossible to avoid. The mood has changed, though. The Government sees its necessity to maintain its spending power to be superior to your personal property. According to some estimates, you pay as much as 50% of your income in various taxes. Upon your death, your family might even have to pay an inheritance tax. At Vote Liberty, we believe that taxation is necessary, but should be limited and voluntary. Currently, a lot of taxes are not voluntary, especially wealth and income tax. Income tax presupposes that the Government owns your money before you do, or that you somehow owe the Government homage for their assistance in your well-being. The truth is, income tax is similar to extortion. There is a reason your money is taken from you before you receive it. If we all had to write a check to the Government at the end of the year for our income taxes, surely people would not want to pay and the Government would struggle to collect it.
If we look at the U.S. Government as a business, we can see how incredibly manipulative and influential it can be. It employs more people than the next 7 highest employers in the world combined and its income is more than the top 10 fortune 500 companies put together. That income and that infrastructure are paid for at the expense of the taxpayer. The kicker is, any time Government wants a raise, they simply vote themselves one at your expense, and threaten you with jail for not paying. If we follow the idea that Government can be compared as a voluntary business, imagine how you’d interact with it. Normally, you would purchase a product from a business. Let’s say for sake of the argument that you buy a dishwasher. Normally, the business would have a return policy and the dishwasher would have some type of warranty or guarantee for quality and functionality. These guarantees assure the purchaser the product will function as advertised. In Government’s case, other people can force you to pay for a product or service that you never intend to use and have no guarantee for its quality. Government also assures us there is only one dishwasher we can buy, since there are no alternatives to Government services. Normally, you would have ample choices in the market and you would be able to decide for yourself which dishwasher to purchase, likely based on the quality reported by the consumer. Have you ever tried not paying taxes because you don’t agree with how your money is spent? You’d likely end up in jail. Now let’s move to marketing. With a standard business, products are marketed to certain individuals by your interests and habits. It should be no surprise that Government markets its ideas, as well. Often times these marketing tactics appeal to your moral standards of right and wrong, and your emotional attachment to certain objects or beliefs. Do you ever wonder why so many campaign promises aren’t kept? You’ve been marketed to, and now that you’ve bought the product, there’s no avenue to guarantee its quality or function. In Government, your dishwasher can fail miserably at washing dishes, and instead of being able to return it, they’ll simply force you to buy a newer “better” model, made by the same company, often with the same promises as the last model. This is why taxation should be voluntary. Voluntary taxation eliminates the use of force by the Government for its own benefit and allows you to participate in Government programs by choice, just like you do in your day-to-day life. Of course, there will be people who will tell you that voluntary taxation will likely lead to a reduction in Government programs, but if they’re so popular, why would Government have to force you to pay for them? In the case of the dishwasher, if only 20%-30% of consumers thought it was a quality product, why should you be forced to buy one?
We believe in reducing taxes whenever practical or feasible. In 2014, the Government Accountability Office reported $125 Billion in Government waste that year alone. These are actual reported numbers, not estimations. It seems prudent that we would work at making sure the Government spends our money as efficiently as possible, given the lack of accountability for their actions. Property rights are one of the founding principles of our country. It is uncommonly known that when writing the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson took the term “Life, Liberty and Property” from John Locke and replaced “Property” with “The Pursuit of Happiness”. The reason being Jefferson did not want the Declaration of Independence to be a force for supporting slavery. The term “Life, Liberty or Property” still appears in the 5th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution as an inalienable right not to be taken away by Government without due process. More information about property rights, taxation and its application to Government can be found in “The Law” by Frederic Bastiat, and “Two Treatises of Government” by John Locke.
If we look at the U.S. Government as a business, we can see how incredibly manipulative and influential it can be. It employs more people than the next 7 highest employers in the world combined and its income is more than the top 10 fortune 500 companies put together. That income and that infrastructure are paid for at the expense of the taxpayer. The kicker is, any time Government wants a raise, they simply vote themselves one at your expense, and threaten you with jail for not paying. If we follow the idea that Government can be compared as a voluntary business, imagine how you’d interact with it. Normally, you would purchase a product from a business. Let’s say for sake of the argument that you buy a dishwasher. Normally, the business would have a return policy and the dishwasher would have some type of warranty or guarantee for quality and functionality. These guarantees assure the purchaser the product will function as advertised. In Government’s case, other people can force you to pay for a product or service that you never intend to use and have no guarantee for its quality. Government also assures us there is only one dishwasher we can buy, since there are no alternatives to Government services. Normally, you would have ample choices in the market and you would be able to decide for yourself which dishwasher to purchase, likely based on the quality reported by the consumer. Have you ever tried not paying taxes because you don’t agree with how your money is spent? You’d likely end up in jail. Now let’s move to marketing. With a standard business, products are marketed to certain individuals by your interests and habits. It should be no surprise that Government markets its ideas, as well. Often times these marketing tactics appeal to your moral standards of right and wrong, and your emotional attachment to certain objects or beliefs. Do you ever wonder why so many campaign promises aren’t kept? You’ve been marketed to, and now that you’ve bought the product, there’s no avenue to guarantee its quality or function. In Government, your dishwasher can fail miserably at washing dishes, and instead of being able to return it, they’ll simply force you to buy a newer “better” model, made by the same company, often with the same promises as the last model. This is why taxation should be voluntary. Voluntary taxation eliminates the use of force by the Government for its own benefit and allows you to participate in Government programs by choice, just like you do in your day-to-day life. Of course, there will be people who will tell you that voluntary taxation will likely lead to a reduction in Government programs, but if they’re so popular, why would Government have to force you to pay for them? In the case of the dishwasher, if only 20%-30% of consumers thought it was a quality product, why should you be forced to buy one?
We believe in reducing taxes whenever practical or feasible. In 2014, the Government Accountability Office reported $125 Billion in Government waste that year alone. These are actual reported numbers, not estimations. It seems prudent that we would work at making sure the Government spends our money as efficiently as possible, given the lack of accountability for their actions. Property rights are one of the founding principles of our country. It is uncommonly known that when writing the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson took the term “Life, Liberty and Property” from John Locke and replaced “Property” with “The Pursuit of Happiness”. The reason being Jefferson did not want the Declaration of Independence to be a force for supporting slavery. The term “Life, Liberty or Property” still appears in the 5th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution as an inalienable right not to be taken away by Government without due process. More information about property rights, taxation and its application to Government can be found in “The Law” by Frederic Bastiat, and “Two Treatises of Government” by John Locke.