The Political Inquirer

Ed and Elaine Brown were forced to give up their rights as they succumbed to what they are convinced is an illegitimate arrest today.

There’s a lot of discussion over whether or not the income tax is really legal. Some say the 16th Amendment doesn’t give the authority to pass an income tax, some say the Congress never passed an income tax law and the IRS is taking money unlawfully, others claim the 16th Amendment was never really ratified. Any one of these ideas can be found by searching for them on the Internet. None of this is really the issue at stake here, nor is it what is being discussed on the media.

What I wish to see on the Internet in every circle, on the old media, and anywhere else possible, is the discussion of the real question that should be answered: Is taxation legitimate?

This question may seem sort of idiotic given that ol’ Ben Franklin said in his elder years that “Nothing is certain but death and taxes.” However, it is a question that must be asked. In my recent inquiries into taxes and the State, I’ve had a harder and more difficult time coming up with reasoning behind taxation that can truly be just. Perhaps someone reading this has an insightful comment.

Taxation’s first and only true problem is: Why is it right to take from A to give to B? We see liberals arguing that there should be higher taxes on various classes. Some conservatives say we should lower taxes on various classes or perhaps just lower taxes altogether. Why is no one arguing that we should abolish, at the very least, the income tax completely? (There is an article by Murray Rothbard on a consumption tax that is interesting too)

Everything involved in taxes involves coercion. People say it is for the good of the society, but if the society can make a decision to take something from me against my will when it becomes robbery. I never hurt anyone, no one ever hurt me, I owe no one anything and I am doing no harm to anyone. Yet somehow this justifies having people show up with a gun to take away my money.

I believe in government still, or at least I want to, but I am finding it harder as I look at taxes. I’ve never liked the idea of an income tax but looking at it from the point of view of Taxation Is Robbery makes it seem absurd. Perhaps tariffs, sales taxes, etc. can supplement my ideal small government as they have in the past and have a case made to at least appear to be legitimate. These taxes don’t annoy me as much because they are not so intrusive, they are basically voluntary.

The more I look at it the more I have to decide that Taxation is Theft. It can’t be anything else. The Ed and Elaine Brown situation should remind us to at least start discussing this. Accepting taxes so blatantly like we do without debate and discussion, only “how much tax” seems absurd to me. Hopefully the Browns won’t be treated too harshly in the totalitarian socialist theft-sponsored detention center.