Posted by mflorman on 01/22/09
Last updated 01/22/09

One of the most fundamental tasks of any government within a free-enterprise system is to protect its citizens' property – to ensure that trade occurs by mutual consent and not as the result of force, intimidation, or threat of the loss of life or liberty (e.g., at gunpoint). This is why we have property rights, and intellectual property rights, and a police force.

The purpose of taxation is to provide the government with the financing it needs to carry out its stated tasks. On principle, I am not opposed to taxes. However, I am opposed to them when the government

1. over-interprets, oversteps, or arbitrarily (i.e., without legal backing) decides what its stated tasks are, or
2. obtains adequate financing yet does not accomplish its stated tasks.

I can rant and rave all day about point 1, about small government, strict interpretation of laws, and all those good ol’ conservative rallying cries (just ask my poor dog, who has to listen to it all day). But point 2, I think, is even more important, for it crosses party lines, ideological lines, and any other lines I may have failed to mention.

No matter what we may personally believe about welfare, social security, unemployment, or any other government entitlement programs, nothing can obscure the fact that they are not working, that they are (or are going) bankrupt, and that it is the government that has dropped the ball.

America is going bankrupt. The dollar is being destroyed by foreign debt and inflation. And printing and spending more money we don’t have is just going to make things worse. These are truths. This is reality, and no amount of faith in the American spirit can bail us out. We simply have to stop. spending. so. much. money. We can no longer afford to waste billions of dollars on wrong directions, poor executions and short-term "solutions.” My 2008 income tax will be wasted in just this way, which I cannot support. Therefore, in protest, I do not want to pay.

Unfortunately, the power of law is on their side. As I understand it, if I do not pay my taxes, the government has every right to throw my hairy bum in jail. But let everyone know, let me be perfectly clear: fear of prison is the only reason I will be paying my taxes this year.

I no longer consent to the government’s wasting my hard-earned money on ineffective bureaucracy, investment in failing companies, and policies (domestic and foreign) that weaken the spending power of the dollars I have managed to save.  As a capitalist, I find it morally repugnant to continue to give value and receive nothing, or, as is actually the case, receive a negative in return. And yet I will do so, but – again – only because the gun of a government-imposed prison sentence is pointed squarely at my head.

So, Federal Government, you can steal my property this year, for I am not yet willing to give up my life or liberty to fight your injustice. But that day is coming. And until then, know still that I do not stand united behind your plans that deny reality and defy that most basic principle of a free society – the protection of the individual and his property. Do not ever misinterpret my participation in your taxation as any sort of support, for it is nothing more than fearful tribute. But when you are ready to listen, when you are ready to see the truth and move ever closer towards the America that our Founders envisioned, well, then I will gladly, and willingly, participate in any way I can.

Posted 01/22/09 Daniel Gerke clinton, MO

Very well stated, I couldn't add a thing.

Posted 01/22/09 Andrew Sica Woodbury, CT

IP laws are slippery to say the least. Jeffrey Tucker on Mises.org wrote a great piece on a new book about IP law that I agree with completely - check it out...

Posted 01/22/09 Felegund Jonesville, KY

Your statement is sound. Nicely done. It is a pity, though, for a goodly part of me feels that as long as the government has the threat of imprisonment against those it steals from, and we bow to that threat, we are as good as controlled.

Posted 01/22/09 mflorman New Orleans, LA

Felegund, I agree. In a way we are already imprisoned, and we surely are already controlled. Unfortunately, I am perhaps lacking as a patriot in that I am as of yet unwilling to go to prison for my beliefs. I don't see how such martyrdom would accomplish anything at this point. That said, I am open to a sound argument... If I were an elected official, it would be important to me to have the willful consent of the governed in whatever policies I undertook. With all this talk of unity and putting aside old arguments, I just want to be very clear that I do not consent and that I regard current tax policy as theft. I will not be silent and let that silence be misunderstood as support for policies I know are destroying the country I love so much. If the government is going to steal from me, at the very least I want them to know that that is what they are doing, and, to be honest, I also want them to feel bad about it.

Posted 01/22/09 sunshine Washington, NH

Really good post. I've been thinking about protesting in this way also, but decided not to. If it's any consolation, the money they are keeping is worthless anyway. They're making sure of that. :-) (Sorry, don't mean to trivialize your services, but we need to keep a sense of humor at the same time)

Posted 01/22/09 Felegund Jonesville, KY

You're exactly right, of course. I wasn't trying to say that it was still a bad thing that we would consent to pay taxes. I'd do the same thing, if any of my income was documented where the IRS could find it (thank God for farm labor- everything is under the table). I was just lamenting that such power ever came to exist, and that we have to obey it in order to keep fighting it. Still, when we finally manage to draw enough national attention that the media comes after us, we'll have enough to take care of without the charges of tax evasion. Sensationalism tends to counteract revolution.

Posted 01/23/09 sunshine Washington, NH

I agree with the statements regarding enslavement. As long as we comply, we are enslaved to that with which we comply. Except... I became an independent voter last October. Before that I had the traditional Republican ideals, but was too blind to see that the Republican party did not share them. I was truly enslaved then, as I had no choice but to obey like a zombie. All the while I had hoped that the Republicans would change the world for the better. When I finally saw the truth, I became angry. As time goes on, I see that the unveiling of the truth has actually made me freer. I can see my slavery, but I am still free to decide whether to obey or take the whipping. I am free to think for myself. I think that's what the fathers meant when they said that the truths are self-evident. Everyone has the ability to see the truth if they want to. We are much freer than those who will not see.

Posted 01/23/09 celticreeler Rolla, MO

What a good post. Many very important ideas in it, as well as in the comments.

Posted 01/23/09 mflorman New Orleans, LA

Great point, Sunshine. I have undergone a similar mental transition -- my willingness to see the truth has made me feel more free, more happy, and more empowered than ever before. It has also made me really, really, really pissed off :) In this time of moral and metaphysical relativism, it is important that we who actually have beliefs 1)let others know we have them, which in turn might empower them to think and commit to something, and 2)explain why we hold the beliefs we hold. I, for one, have finally accepted that reality exists, that I am alive and conscious, and that I alone am responsible for my own life and happiness. Most of my beliefs (political and otherwise) follow from these (self-evident?) truths.

Posted 01/28/09 Jenn s Fredericksburg, VA

Your major points sound very Galt-ish :)