RSS
Home
Why I won't join the tax protesters
Print
Email
RSS
Subscribe
I've noticed recently on my personal blog that a couple commenters have been plugging Peter Hendrickson's Cracking the Code (CtC) anytime I mention taxation, so I figured it might be a good idea to address this and mention that I do not endorse the tax protester movement, for several reasons.
Here's a snippet of the last comment, written by someone who goes by the name "Redman," in response to a post yesterday in which I merely linked an article by Paul Craig Roberts explaining that Obama's tax plan is really an attack on the middle class.
All this commotion is just watering the lawn while the house burns down. Get the book, get the facts, learn what the law says and to whom it applies and stop this slavery.
Apparently I'm causing a "commotion" by linking to an article. Or maybe Redman is implying that Roberts's analysis itself is commotion incarnate. Either way, it's hardly an original sentiment because the first sentence of that paragraph essentially is the motto of Hendrickson's website, Lost Horizons. Full slogan: "Where real Americans help put Leviathan on a starvation diet, 'cause everything else is just watering the lawn while the house burns down."
Now, I really don't mind if people use my blog as a forum through which to plug books or other blogs. As long as comments pertain to the topic at hand and don't belittle or libel anyone, I'm pretty much cool with whatever. And I fully agree that taxation effectively renders us slaves to the omnipotent state. Anyone who doesn't realize that just isn't paying attention. However, I'm still not interested in buying what these guys are selling.
For starters, tax protesters worship at the altar of the Constitution, a document for which I have no affinity whatsoever. I don't buy into the argument that income taxes are illegal and/or unconstitutional -- I believe they are immoral, but that's a far cry from arguing that the government doesn't have a legal right to collect them. Sadly, it does.
Moreover, even if it is true that the feds shouldn't have a legal right to collect these taxes (for whatever reasons, constitutional or otherwise), the fact remains that government is the ultimate arbitrator in determining the outcomes of conflicts it provokes. Perhaps the majority of Americans truly are misled and could find Nirvana in this book, but the fact nevertheless remains that the state prides itself on initiating violence to evoke conformance, regardless of what its "laws" actually say. In other words, tax protesters need to convince federal judges of the merits of their arguments, not me. Maybe the majority of taxpayers really don't need to file income taxes -- I wouldn't know, I haven't read Hendrickson's book yet -- but the fact of the matter is, the feds believe we do, and that's usually what counts in the end. I didn't invent tyranny; I just oppose it.
Finally, I'm not necessarily interested in legally avoiding taxes; I'm interested in not being robbed in the first place. And I'm certainly not interested in taking on the federal behemoth alone, especially one that systematically reminds us it is determined to rule arbitrarily and in its own favor. Fighting a losing battle in immoral government courts (if almost every case involving tax protesters is any indication) and being sentenced to years behind bars, subsequently leaving my wife without a husband and my son without a father, is not my idea of making a difference.
What I am interested in, however, is helping everyone realize that taxation is theft. I would be willing to exercise civil disobedience, peacefully protesting immoral taxation and even risking temporary incarceration if that means raising public awareness. But don't expect me to be a martyr and die for the state's sins.
What I find truly intriguing is the CtC supporters' almost universal unwillingness to tip anyone to the central argument of this book, as if it's some big mystery. As Jim Ostrowski has asked in an LRC blog post on the subject, is it just all about selling books? If we're really on the same side in protesting taxation -- albeit using varying methods -- why all the secrecy?
Simply put, I would rather spend my time making a moral and philosophical case against taxation in general, arguing for the drastic reduction or outright elimination of taxes and ultimately helping to effect an ideological movement that will render the need for tax protestation moot in the first place.
As they say, nothing is so powerful as an idea whose time has come. Rather than fighting futile, self-sacrificial battles, our efforts would be put to much better use if they were used to effect a sea change in public opinion. Revolution is undoubtedly overdue, but without ideology on your side, your cause is doomed.
Related Articles:
Comments
