When thievery is resorted to for the means with which to do good, compassion is killed. Those who would do good with the loot then lose their capacity for self-reliance, the same as a thief's self-reliance atrophies rapidly when he subsists on food that is stolen. And those who are repeatedly robbed of their property simultaneously lose their capacity for compassion.
– F.A. Harper, Essays on Liberty [1952]
(Hat-tip Future of Freedom Foundation)
If I disagree with the purposes for which tax is taken from me then it is taken against my will.
I have no aversion to helping deserving causes but I'd prefer to make my own choices about who and what they are.
BTW what a continuing disappointment National are. Creating ever more dependency.
BTW what a continuing disappointment National are. Creating ever more dependency.
6 comments:
Indeed. The psychology of taxation being used for welfare is devastating. The "giver" is disassociated from the "recipient". The donor receives no benefit (satisfaction, ability to be compassionate, a feeling of contributing to a fellow humans well-being) and therefore views the (unknown) beneficiary as a nuisance and a drain on his resources. The beneficiary, on the other hand, views his benefit, not as a gift from a benefactor but as an entitlement (incredibly, we even call benefits "entitlements"). As a gift, this benefit would engender a bond between him and the giver, fortifying their humanity. The receiver is motivated also to seek work and the giver is motivated to help him. All this is lost when the government becomes an intermediary.
The dehumanizing effect of this is profound, pitting the poor against the wealthy as if neither party is human. Welfare is a cancer that eats at at a nations soul.
Ben Franklin observed. The more you you do for people the less they do for themselves the poorer they become. The less you do for people the more they do for themselves the richer they become. Tax is theft. When gov'ts forcibly take other peoples money off them, they are taking away the irreplaceable time a person has to sacrifice to earn that money. The politicians and the hoards of hangers on do very nicely out of the taxes extracted from the embattled taxpayer.The socialism system , welfare is just a big racket with legal status. Al Capone would have been impressed as he got prosecuted for tax evasion by legal gangsters more powerful than his own gangsters.
An interesting thought experiment is to ask whether those who profess to be happy to be taxed, or who call for even higher taxation, would be as happy to give up the same amount of their income if they (and everyone else) wasn't compelled to do so. I think not. And is it moral to demand money with threat of physical violence (imprisonment and even death in the event you continue to resist) to give to others? Is it even altruistic to give other people's money away?
As an aside to the above comments, I offer the following and I am speaking generally.
Because I dress down these days, I tend to attract the attention of those who believe me to be of a like mind to themselves. They ask how can I afford to drive such nice vehicles? I tell them I work hard, I no longer smoke any substance legal or otherwise, I dont drink alcohol, I dont gamble and my tastes in entertainment are satisfied via good books, music and a tankfull of high octane rocket fuel.
At this point most have lost interest, get into their unwarranted and unregistered vehicles and drive to the pub where over a beer they bitch about how unfair life is!!
Opps, had a momentary lapse of reason and hit the wrong buttons.
My point was, I pay my fair share of tax and use the legal means available to minimise my tax obligation and I suspect part of what I pay goes some way to help fund their "entitlement." I further suspect taxation by force is a form of "Thievery" and I got an uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach recently when I read the police will soon have access to our private information via bank accounts when we deposit amounts in excess of $12000 in cash. The police could conceivably seize this money and hold it until such time we are able to prove to their satisfaction its been gained lawfully.
That they will have access to all our banking history, coupled with the fact it will be unlawfull for the banks to notify us we are being scrutinised, suggests to me we are all going to be seen as the enemy of the state until we prove our worth far beyond what the taxation laws already provide for. All this to continue funding the insatiable appetite of big government and providing an income to those who demand it as a right.
The Americans and Australians are already labouring under such laws and the attachment makes interesting reading..
http://www.serendipity.li/civil_asset_forfeiture.htm
Good comments (always like what I agree with I guess). I am of a view its an immoral racket and the conspiracy stories around its illegality are not easily dismissed. The love of money is the root of all evil and the IRD love your money, so much so that they will resort to usury to take more of it than can be justified on any basis other than pure greed backed by the gun.
Power corrupts and the power to tax wages at source is a temptation man should never have allowed himself.
3:16
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