Taxation is inherently immoral. We, the people, do need an entity into which to vest our powers in order to efficiently maintain the standards of civilization. But the minute we let this entity get a mind of its own - especially in such vital matters as deciding how much everyone must pay for its existence - it begins to assume the natural role of any entity with superior power: it becomes the oppressor we wanted to get rid of. We create the government as a guardian to protect our freedom - but we give it too much power, so the guardian turns the tables on us, and makes us all its captives.
It doesn't need to be this way. We could have a guardian that would be much more limited in what it can do, and certainly would not be able to extort its funding out of anyone. (If someone doesn't want to pay for the guardian, then obviously she doesn't perceive its services to be worthwhile, and shouldn't be forced to pay for them regardless.)
We need methods of reaching consensus and ways to act collectively when we need to. But we also need to do away with systems that have become bastardized to the point where they oppress each and every one of us, every day.
In the UK and Germany you have to work for free until June every year just to cover that year's taxes. In France this date is in July. Do you feel like you are getting as much value from your government as you would have gotten otherwise, if you paid for it yourself using the value of 5.5 months of your labor?
I sure don't.
It shouldn't have to cost this much just to provide:
- maintenance of basic civilization standards; and
- a way to act collectively when needed.
There are better ways.
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