[sjkted]

Here's another problem with taxation. There is quite a moral dilemma involved.

Most people agree that it is wrong/immoral to steal from others. If you steal, you can be put in prison and convicted.

Now some types of taxation could be considered to pay for services. Interestingly enough, these are usually hidden from the public. This is all part of the larger strategy. Most people will tell you their income taxes go to pay for roads and highways. Wrong! The amount is paid by you at the pump in the form of a fuel tax. These should be brought up to the consumer, so 1) we know what we're paying for and 2) if we don't like the service (i.e. roads, bridges, highways) we can collectively demand that something be done about it. Instead, we don't even have a clue how it is being paid for, how much it costs, and get an idea of whether we're being screwed or not.

Back to the immoral issue. This is a story I heard a while ago and think of a bit.

Let's say there is an old lady who lives in a neighborhood and she can't afford to hire someone to cut her grass and she's too frail to cut it herself. The neighborhood has a meeting and decides something must be done as her grass is out of control. They find a local teenager and demand that he must cut her lawn. So, he works to cut the lawn without pay. Some people might call this indentured servitude. This is exactly what taxation is. Most people would say that indentured servitude is wrong, immoral and unjust but taxation is just a mechanism so we can do this and collectively feel ok about it.

Yes, there are always going to be people in need. But, how little do we really think of ourselves and our neighbors that we need to coerce them in order to help each other? Forcing (or taxing) people creates a disincentive for them to form co-ops and help each other. The reason is that everyone has their hand held out to the government and those who don't receive are angry at those who do.

This is absolute madness! We need to help ourselves, our neighbors and our community. We don't need no stinkin' government subsidy programs to fix our problems. What are we a bunch of weak, ignorant pathetic excuses for human beings? We can help each other! We don't need to steal from Peter to pay Paul. This is an outrage!!!

--sjkted