Disclaimer: I am 100% opposed to all taxation in any form, whatsoever.
However, not all forms of taxation are as destructive as all others. If we’re to be stuck with taxes no matter what, we should prefer less destructive forms to more destructive forms.
The income withholding tax is the most odious instrument of tyranny ever devised by the mind of man. Really, the brutal logic of the sprawling police state has its root in this one, evil idea.
The government doesn’t actually care what we do with ourselves. Hell, they don’t even care if we murder each other, as long as we don’t organize a revolt against the Establishment. So why all the police-state surveillance measures? They are all extensions of the first, root act of surveillance which is conducted upon all of us: income reporting for tax purposes. From this follows the need to spy on the contents of our bank accounts. From this follows the need to spy on our financial transactions over time and across space. From this follows the need to spy on our potential cash holdings and physical surveillance. From this follows the need to wiretap, datamine, dragnet, correlate and collate every scrap of data about our daily activities to ensure that we’re not “sneaking past” the income tax regimen.
I have proposed an alternative that I believe is the least harmful conceivable tax system. I can even imagine an industry for insurance against being victimized by taxation arising. Such an industry would make the government’s life a living hell as they would require their clients to comply with best practices in financial privacy in order to qualify for insurance.
Clayton -