This post will contain different arguments surrounding taxation that are commonly seen on the Internet.
Taxation is Theft
This one is bantered around by Libertarians and others who want to sound interesting. The phrase has a built-in assumption that since you didn’t agree to be taxed money taken from you, as a result, is inherently theft.
Which is true. If I didn’t consent then you’re effectively stealing from me.
So the questions then arise around “consent” and how you communicate “consent”.
Part of it is being born, you inherently agree not to live in a state of nature. Humans settled down to create civilizations because being hunter/gathers more or less sucks. Food is hard to find, you don’t live long, and you’re in a constant battle against nature and others for resources.
Human technology evolved to the point where it was more efficient to settle down with like-minded folks and create a society that eases some of the negatives. To enforce society taxes were created as a functional way to administer. I give up some money or resources to a central figure (could be a person or an idea or an institution) who then uses those resources to provide a benefit for all (like communal defense).
So society has deemed long before you were born that being in a constant state of nature is worse than paying taxes.
The other part is being in a democracy. In a democracy of which there are two types, direct and indirect. In a direct democracy, everyone gathers and makes decisions as a whole. This is only really possible in small towns and was championed by ancient Greece. In an indirect democracy (called Representative Democracy or a Republic) you elect someone who then makes decisions. The idea being if the person is a bad representative and makes bad decisions you pick someone else. This was championed by ancient Rome.
The US is currently a Republic so we elect people to make rules for society. This is called “Consent of the Governed”. We elect people to make rules for us. If their rules suck we elect new people. To administer the rules, taxes are collected.
So taxation is only theft if you don’t consent and the only way to “not consent” is to drop out of society or elect people who remove taxes.
Collecting Taxes From the Wealthy
We once collected taxes from the very wealthy because we enforced the law: https://wwnorton.com/books/9781324002727.
