I agree with this analysis, I guess I will get there yet.
BTW, regarding your point on “voluntary” - the motto of IRS’ equivalent in my country is “We are your partners in honest fulfilment of obligations towards the state” - a mouthful, and suggests voluntary fulfilment. I guess I should make a local variant of a t-shirt with this motto 
I know Jack, I was correcting the typo
The shirt made sense to me because it’s the common image of “CAPITALISM: WORK OR STARVE”, something along those lines. The creator of the shirt is reminding the audience that there is a choice involved, which is very different from being held up at gunpoint.
I like the idea of the two pictures of the same thing, except one with and one without a badge. The only thing I would change is make both pictures smaller and both on the front… many people won’t read the back of the shirt so it won’t make any sense if only one of the pictures is on the front. You should consider putting the pictures side by side or one above the other.
Yeah that’s a decent point about the side by side. In that case you might even just put: “What’s the difference?”
Good idea. I like that one too.
Oooo…or maybe “Can you spot the difference?”
Or actually, “Is there a difference?” might be the best of both…as it poses the question of is there really a difference between taxation and theft (like the first one) but also brings the viewer in, as if inviting him to find the discrepancy…like the second one.
I like this. ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ
The Greek phrase Molōn labe! (Μολὼν λαβέ; approximate Ancient Greek pronunciation [molɔ̀ːn labé], Modern Greek [moˈlon laˈve]), meaning “Come and take them” is a classical expression of defiance reportedly by King Leonidas I in response to the Persian army’s demand that the Spartans surrender their weapons at the Battle of Thermopylae. It corresponds roughly to the modern equivalent English phrase “over my dead body”, “bring it on” or, most closely, “come and get it”. It is an exemplary use of a laconic phrase.
Actually John, I don’t think that would work so well because the average person does not think of taxation as violence so they wouldn’t even make the connection to taxation. They would just think it was some message about bully cops.
How about this? The two pictures one above the other. Next to the robber is the word “ROBBER” and next to the guy he’s robbing “VICTIM.” Then on the other picture next to the police officer, “TAX COLLECTOR” and next to the victim “TAXPAYER.”
That might draw attention to the excellent PR job government has done making taxation seem voluntary through their wording.
Either that or just “ROBBERY” and “TAXATION” next to them.
Or maybe under the pictures, “Funny how extortion is called taxation when the government does it.”
And I like your idea DomV. It’s subtle enough to wear around casually, and would be a good conversation starter if anyone asked about it.
I doubt people know who Murray Rothbard is and make the connection to the “enemy of the state” t-shirt either. The point is it’s a conversation starter. Kind of like paying in $2 bills…or…say…random phrases in Greek (or Latin) that virtually no one would be able to translate, let alone know the background.
If you’re gonna go that far you might as well just use the one picture and a phrase like I suggested above…
Or actually, “Is there a difference?” might be the best of both…as it poses the question of is there really a difference between taxation and theft (like the first one) but also brings the viewer in, as if inviting him to find the discrepancy…like the second one.
Will try it later today.
BTW, is the IRS logo something an average American would recognize on the spot, even subconsciously? I made it barely recognizable on purpose, to avoid copyright issues Maybe I should preserve more resemblance to the original.
Actually, it took less time than expected: http://www.zazzle.com/what_is_a_difference_between_robbery_and_taxation_tshirt-235909330140300985
I added some text on the back - what is great, it seems that anyone can create clones of any design on this site (subject to copyright, but you have my permission), and publish modified versions, like changed text, or resized images. So if you like a t-shirt with “clean” back, that’s easy!
No worries on the copyright…they’re works of the US government, thus in the public domain. The one caveat is that you can’t use it to give the false impression that the agency is endorsing whatever you’re putting the symbol on. But the IRS logo I don’t think even has that restriction.
Have a look:
Either way, you can just make it a generic representation without all the details. You could even just have a circle with “IRS” on it if you wanted.
Regarding Rothbard …
My friends say he looks like the Six Flags guy, so perhaps a T of Murray with his thick specs and big smile exclaiming ‘Less Flags, More Fun!’ with the mises.org url on the bottom?
That’s actually really funny. A news guy seems to think he looks like someone even more famous…
(mistaken identity comes at 3:58)
Hehehe, great T-shirt, the simple visuals got it right. XD
I am considering creating a series of t-shirts: “Crimes do not count when done by government agents”.
I already have extortion/taxes, and I think murder/war, counterfeiting/central bank, and slavery/conscription should be pretty straightforward.
Not sure about kidnapping/jail. Any more ideas?
You got the major ones, but a few more might be:
Censoring/ sheltering, searching & seizing/ protecting, spying/ guarding (or “watching over”)
Also you might run the phrases by some native English speakers to get some input on the most effective wording. Like for this line of shirts you might call it: “Crimes are not illegal when committed by government”, or “It’s not a crime if you’ve got a badge.”
Thanks again!
“Crimes are not illegal when committed by government” - sounds great, except I would like to stress it that acts are committed by individuals working for the government, not the government itself.
Yeah that’s why I threw in the second option. But most people don’t differentiate the state and officials of the state anyway. I’m not exactly sure where this title would go or how you plan to use it, so I’m not totally clear what would work best. Other ideas:
