David

Karki

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April 1, 2009

Taxation Makes Us the April Fools

April Fools Day – what an appropriate day for a column on the folly of taxation, especially upon income and property.

And folly is all it can be, when you examine the moral underpinnings of it all. It denies the existence of private property and as such legally sanctions theft. Nothing built on such an illegitimate foundation can be legitimate in its function.

Private property as a concept is as old as humanity, and comes from the Creator himself. His Eighth Commandment is “Thou shalt not steal.” There cannot be any such thing as stealing unless there is first such a thing as private property. Conversely, if all property is collective, then by definition nothing can be stolen.

If stealing is such a sin as to rank worthy of specific rebuking, then it logically follows that the concept of private property is also held in very high regard. And that most property would be considered to be privately, not collectively, owned. (Otherwise, why waste one of the big 10 no-no's on a small portion of the stuff in the world?)

Therefore, we ought to be very careful in attempting to sanction the taking of private property. Unless there is clear consent given before property is seized, it is theft and immoral. And this is where government comes in, for one need not stick a gun in your back and remove your wallet from your pocket to have stolen what is yours.

If you are not free to keep what you have earned and use it as you alone see fit, then for all practical purposes it's not yours. If government can dictate what you cannot and must do with your money and your possessions, then functionally, it's theirs and not yours.

If government has pre-emptive claim on one penny of the fruits of your labors, then in principle it has a claim on it all. The only reason it doesn't seize it all is the likelihood of its subjects to revolt against their rule. But make no mistake – government would in a heartbeat if it could, and President Obama, Speaker Pelosi and Majority Leader Reid are trying harder than ever before to make that reality.

This really means that, on the matter of the income tax, we're talking about the legal and constitutional sanction of servitude. My dictionary defines this as “a right by which something owned by one person is subject to a specific use or enjoyment by another.” If that doesn't describe the seizure of income you earn by government to spend as it sees fit, I don't know what does.

And the property tax is the same. It simply turns all land into rental property. If you don't pay the property tax, your land is seized or a lien is placed against its value, is it not? Is that not the dictionary definition of renting – pay government its rent or initially suffer late fees and eventually be evicted from the premises? To use Webster’s once more: “A usually fixed periodical payment made by a tenant or occupant of property to its owner for the possession and use thereof.”

Sounds exactly like what the property tax functionally is. Think about it: For how many other things that you own must you keep paying government a fee to enjoy its continued possession and use? In principle, all property belongs to government and we are all merely renters so long as this arrangement is active.

Moreover, what does the bulk of property tax revenue go to fund? Public schooling. Since when is it anybody – or everybody – else's responsibility to pay for your children's education? With all due respect, if you freely chose to create offspring, it is your responsibility and no one else's to see that these little ones grow into educated, productive members of society. And most folks will be open to helping in this necessary and noble endeavor, but it does not and indeed cannot justify the use of coercion.

The American Revolution was, at its heart, a revolt against taxes and the vehicle for injurious coercive force they necessarily represent. The Founders responded to a 2 percent tax on tea – which was more of a sales tax or tariff, and thus far less invasive than either an income or property tax – by boosting a shipful into Boston Harbor. Today, we respond not at all to punishing income taxes of up to 40 percent and property taxes that rise as endlessly as the appetite of the teachers’ unions for more of your money.

Government today has long since left King George III in its dust, both in sheer quantities of dollars seized and in its gross violations of personal liberty. The Founders have to be looking down on us, wondering why we put up with this and what on Earth we're waiting for.

As for April Fools, if we think we can continue this way without seeing the immoral taxation we've sown lead to immoral consequences we will reap, then the fools are us.

© 2009 North Star Writers Group. May not be republished without permission.

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