Yes, Taxation is Theft...

You have to be mentally impaired not to understand this.

One view:

Libertarians think that taxation is theft. The government takes away part of your income and property by force. Your payments aren’t voluntary. If you think they are, try to withhold payment and see what happens.

An influential book by Liam Murphy and Thomas Nagel, The Myth of Ownership, (1st plank, Communist manifesto, abolition of all right to private property.) tries to show that this view of taxation is wrong. Many people, they say, foolishly resent taxes. By what right does the government take away part of what we own? Isn’t this legalized theft? The government may claim that it needs the funds to provide essential social services: are the poor to be left to starve? But these assertions do not justify its policy of forcible seizure. Isn’t it up to each owner of property to decide what, if anything, he wishes to donate to charity and other good causes?

Three Counter-​Arguments

Most people are reluctant to call taxation theft. How might one avoid saying this? Following are three arguments one might try, together with the most obvious responses.

First Argument

Taxation is not theft, because citizens have agreed to pay taxes. This is part of the “social contract,” which is a kind of agreement between citizens and the government, whereby the citizens agree to pay taxes and obey the laws, in return for the government’s protection. By using government services (such as roads, schools, and police), and remaining present in the government’s territory, you indicate that you accept the social contract.

Reply to First Argument

There simply isn’t any such contract. The government has never actually written up and offered such a contract, nor has anyone signed it.

Still, the use of government services might imply agreement to pay for those services, if people who didn’t use the services were not required to pay. But in fact, the government forces citizens to pay taxes regardless of whether they use government services or not. Therefore, the fact that you use government services does not indicate anything about whether you agree to pay taxes.

Remaining present in “the government’s territory” also does not indicate agreement to the putative social contract. This is because the government does not in fact own all the land that it claims as “its territory”; this land is, rather, mainly owned by private individuals. If I own some land that other people are using, I can demand that the other people either pay me money or vacate my land. But if I see some people on their land, I cannot demand that they either pay me money or vacate their own land. If I do that, I am a thief.

Second Argument

The government can’t be a thief, because it is the government that defines property rights through its laws. The government can simply make laws that say that the money you are supposed to pay in taxes isn’t really yours in the first place; it is the government’s money.

Reply to Second Argument

The second argument turns on the claims that there are no property rights independent of government laws, and that the government can create property rights simply by declaring that something belongs to someone. There is no obvious reason to believe either or, and both claims are counter-​intuitive.

Imagine that you travel to a remote region outside any government’s jurisdiction, where you find a hermit living off the land. The hermit hunts with a spear of his own making, which you find interesting. You decide (without the hermit’s consent) to take the spear with you when you leave. It would seem correct to say that you “stole” the spear. This shows the implausibility of .

Next, imagine that you are a slave in the nineteenth-​century American South. Suppose you decide to escape from your master without your master’s consent. If is true, then you would be violating your master’s rights by stealing yourself. Note that you would not merely be violating a legal right; if this is true, the government creates moral rights and obligations through its laws, so you would be violating your master’s moral rights. This shows the implausibility of it.

Third Argument

Taxes are just the price the government charges for providing law and order. Without taxation, the government would collapse, then all social order would break down, and then you wouldn’t have any money at all. Taxation is unlike theft because thieves do not provide valuable services, let alone services that enable you to make the very money that they are taking a portion of.

Reply to Third Argument

To start with, that argument shows that the “believer” has not used the least bit of reason, logic or common sense. Imagine that I hold you up at gunpoint and take $20 from you. I also leave one of my books behind in exchange. When you see me later without my gun, you call me a thief and demand your money back. “Oh no,” I say, “I am no thief, for I gave you something valuable in exchange. True, you never asked for the book, but it’s a good book, worth much more than $20.”

This reply on my part would be confused. It doesn’t matter that I gave you a good in exchange, and it doesn’t matter whether the book is really worth more than $20. What matters is that I took your money without your consent.

It also does not matter if you benefit greatly from the book. Suppose that (unable to convince me to take it back) you wind up reading my book, which turns out to contain such useful advice that you end up much better off (including financially better off) than before I came along. None of this changes the fact that I am a thief. The temporal order also does not matter: if I give you the unsolicited book first, then wait for you to profit from it financially, and then forcibly take away some of the money you earned, I would still be a thief.

The most ridiculous part of this whole mess can be summed up with the following quotes from several sources…

"The Federal Government, with the cooperation of the Federal Reserve, has the inherent power to create money--almost any amount of it." ~ The National Debt, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, p. 8

ALMOST? Why only ALMOST? What keeps them from creating ALL they want? You? Me? Your dog? A full moon? The only reason for taxes at the federal level is to make you "believe" they need them and to impart value in your mind on fake fiat currency. AND TO CONTROL YOU! Did it work?

Federal Reserve Notes are not federal, represent no monetary reserves and no longer conform to the definition of notes. Failing to state who, will pay what, when or to whom - they ceased to be legal tender notes, (offers of money) almost 60 years ago. They are in fact instruments of legalized THEFT.

"...Keynes argues that inflation is a 'method of taxation' which the government uses to 'secure the command over real resources, resources just as real as those obtained by [ordinary] taxation'. 'What is raised by printing notes, ' he writes, is just as much taken from the public as is a beer duty or an income tax.' " - 1980 Annual Report, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, pg 10

"All the paper money issued today is Federal Reserve notes. The real backing for the nation's money is faith in the strength, soundness and stability of the American economy." ~ The Hats the Federal Reserve Wears, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, pg 4

Faith is what backs our monetary system. YOUR faith. Do you still have faith?

"When plunder has become a way of life for a group of men living together in society, they create for themselves in the course of time a legal system that authorizes it and a moral code that glorifies it." ~ Frederic Bastiat in "The Law"

"Lenin is said to have declared that the best way to destroy the capitalist system was to debauch the currency. By a continuing process of inflation, governments can confiscate, secretly and unobserved, an important part of the wealth of their citizens." ~ 1980 Annual Report, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, pg 6

Isn't confiscation of the wealth of the citizens a nice way of saying STEALING?

"Whenever the legislators endeavor to take away and destroy the property of the people, or to reduce them to slavery under arbitrary power, they put themselves into a state of war with the people, who are thereupon absolved from any further obedience." ~ John Locke (1690)

If the money you earn has no value and you are forced through fiat paper legislation to take it for your labor, are you not having your property (labor) destroyed and are you not being reduced to nothing but slavery? Is not the state at war with the people?

5th Plank Communist Manifesto: Centralization of credit in the hands of the state, by means of a national bank with state capital and an exclusive monopoly.

The Federal Reserve System, created by the Federal Reserve Act of Congress in 1913, is indeed such a “national bank” and it politically manipulates interest rates and holds a monopoly on legal counterfeiting in the United States. This is exactly what Marx had in mind and completely fulfills this plank, another major socialist objective. Yet, most Americans naively believe the U.S. of A. is far from a Marxist or socialist nation.

"The writers of the constitution knew exactly what they were doing when they wrote in Article I Section 10 paragraph 1 'No state shall... make anything but gold and silver coin a tender in payment of debts. ' People able to barter with gold and silver coin control government and are free. Loss of the right to trade in gold and silver coin enslaves people to the creators of psychological 'money.'": -Merrill Jenkins, Sr., Money - The Greatest Hoax on Earth

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^Thanks to the Federal Reserve!^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Anyhow, for all of you getting ready to celebrate the 4th of July in the next couple of weeks, be sure you remember one of the reasons for the Revolution against Great Britain.

And as you celebrate your “freedom”, remember this! Here is a list of freedom items for you to consider…

"U.S. Internal Revenue Service: an agency modeled after the revenue raising concepts of the 19th century economist, Jesse James". --Robert Brault

"If you make any money, the government shoves you in the creek once a year with it in your pockets, and all that doesn't get wet you can keep". --Will Rogers

"The government’s view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it." --Ronald Reagan (and if you refuse to pay for it, cage you or kill you. C.L.)

Here is a very short list of taxes & fees paid for “services” rendered…Sorry, my definition of short must be different from the typically understood meaning.

1. Personal/Consumer Taxes & Fees

2. Federal income tax

3. State income tax

4. Local income tax

5. Employee social security tax (your employer pays the other half)

6. Employee Medicare tax (your employer pays the other half)

7. Property taxes

8. Road toll charges

9. State sales tax

10. Driver's license renewal fee

11. TV Cable/Satellite fees & taxes

12. Federal telephone surtax, excise tax, and universal surcharge

13. State telephone excise tax and surcharge

14. Telephone minimum usage and recurring/nonrecurring charges tax

15. Gas/electric bill fees & taxes

16. Water/sewer fees & taxes

17. Cigarette tax

18. Alcohol tax

19. Federal gasoline tax

20. State gasoline tax

21. Local gasoline tax

22. Federal inheritance tax

23. State inheritance tax

24. Gift tax

25. Bridge toll charges

26. Marriage license

27. Hunting license

28. Fishing license

29. Bike license fee

30. Dog permit/license

31. State park permit

32. Watercraft registration & licensing fees

33. Sports stadium tax

34. Bike/nature trail permit

35. Court case filing fee

36. Retirement account early withdrawal penalty

37. Individual health insurance mandate tax

38. Hotel stay tax

39. Plastic surgery surcharge

40. Soda/fatty-food tax

41. Air transportation tax

42. Electronic transmission of tax return fees

43. Passport application/renewal fee

44. Luxury & gas-guzzler car taxes

45. New car surcharge

46. License plate and car ownership transfer taxes

47. Yacht and luxury boat taxes

48. Jewelry taxes & surcharges

49. State/local school tax

50. Recreational vehicle tax

51. Special assessments for road repairs or construction

52. Gun ownership permit

53. Kiddie tax (IRS form 8615)

54. Fuel gross receipts tax

55. Waste Management tax

56. Oil and gas assessment tax

57. Use taxes (on out-of-state purchase)

58. IRA rollover tax/withdrawal penalties

59. Tax on non-qualified health saving account distributions

60. Individual and small business surtax (page 336 of Obamacare)

61. Estimated income tax underpayment penalty

62. Alternative Minimum Tax on income

Business Taxes & Fees

1. Federal corporate income tax

2. State corporate income tax

3. Tax registration fee for new businesses

4. Employer social security tax

5. Employer Medicare tax

6. Federal unemployment tax

7. State unemployment tax

8. Business registration renewal tax

9. Worker's compensation tax

10. Tax on imported/exported goods

11. Oil storage/inspection fees

12. Employer health insurance mandate tax

13. Excise Tax on Charitable Hospitals (page 2001/Sec. 9007 of Obamacare)

14. Tax on Innovator Drug Companies (Page 2010/Sec. 9008 of Obamacare)

15. Tax on Medical Device Manufacturers (Page 2020/Sec. 9009 of Obamacare)

16. Tax on Health Insurers (Page 2026/Sec. 9010 of Obamacare)

17. Excise Tax on Comprehensive Health Insurance Plans, i.e. "Cadillac" plans

18. Tax on indoor tanning services

19. Utility users tax

20. Internet transaction fee (passed in California; being considered in other states and at federal level)

21. Professional license fee (accountants, lawyers, barbers, dentists, plumbers, etc.)

22. Franchise business tax

23. Tourism and concession license fee

24. Wiring inspection fees

25. Household employment tax

26. Biodiesel fuel tax

27. FDIC tax (insurance premium on bank deposits)

28. Electronic waste recycling fee

29. Hazardous material disposal fee

30. Food & beverage license fee

31. Estimated income tax underpayment penalty

32. Building/construction permit

33. Zoning permit

34. Fire inspection fee

35. Well permit tax

36. Sales and Use tax seller's permit

37. Commercial driver's license fee

38. Bank ATM transaction tax

39. Occupation taxes and fees (annual charges required for a host of professions)

FOR A GRAND TOTAL OF 100 FEDERAL, STATE and LOCAL TAXES. All paid to PARASITES. YEEE HAWWW!! I FEEL SO FREE!!!!!

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