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In That Case, America
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For this thought experiment, imagine that most Americans had endowed rights, and had not consented to be governed (and thus become subjects, taxed, etc, etc.).
Endowed with natural rights (life, etc), natural liberty (sovereignty over private property, etc), personal liberty (right to travel, etc) and absolute ownership of person, labor, and private property (including lands and houses), no servant government instituted to secure rights can trespass, infringe or tax them.
In other words, if you owned your land and house as private property, no government could impose an ad valorem tax, nor school tax, nor regulate what you did with your private property.
If you used lawful money (an untaxable right) or private money, your transactions would not be subject to an excise (sales) tax, because no privilege is involved.
Any labor you traded, bought or sold, as your natural right, would not be subject to a government tax, nor restricted by regulations.
For the most part, you pay no taxes, and governments are sized accordingly. You have not consented to be governed, and thus the government does not. Beyond securing rights, and defending against enemies, foreign or domestic, government does not extend.
Without government protection, usurers do not dominate, nor do they have a monopoly on credit, since private money tokens circulate in parallel with lawful money (gold / silver coin). There are no bankruptcies, nor can contracts for usury be enforced in American courts.
Without massive amounts of revenue, nor millions to rule, government has no power nor resources to intrude, nor subsidize, nor possess anything beyond needful buildings, etc, etc. Government can not afford to get into debt, nor offer collateral to creditors. There are no public subsidized schools, industries, roads, parklands, hunting preserves, nor public utilities. No massive standing armies, nor innumerable ships to sail the seven seas, does the government have.
In that case, what would America look like?
No wealth redistribution, no 42% tax bite (local, state and federal), no administrative overhead, no hidden charges, no tax shifting, nor legalized extortion. No massive government payroll. No pensioners. No entitled masses.
● Would Americans be more productive or less?
● Would America look like a bucolic, backward farming nation or a sophisticated merchant nation?
● Would America not have fought in wars of conquest, post 1812?
● Would frugal government not waste scarce resources on imprisonment, and simply execute felons who had not been granted mercy?
● Would electric traction rail dominate land transport, since it is the most efficient and frugal form?
People will be governed whether they chose to be or not. Someone will lead, the rest follow. The question is would the rulers rule for the ruled or for themselves? No way to ensure this has emerged.
"Man is born free yet everywhere he is in chains." That was Rousseau. He was arguing against Hobbes and Locke and their posture that man is born with natural rights that he voluntarily surrenders for the sake of protection and effectiveness. Not the concept of natural rights but their voluntary surrender.
You may be surprised to note, that life existed before Nanny State government took over.
In fact, before the 20th century, most infrastructure was privately owned and operated for profit.
Roads, toll bridges, ferries, rail roads, canals, etc, etc., often were cash cows for their owners.
In those "bad old days," the federal tax bite was 0.09% of the GNP.
Today's aggregate tax bite (local, state, and federal) comes to 42% of the GDP.
(You pay more, if you aren't in a recipient class)
Embrace your socialist chains, you paid quite a lot for them.
You may be surprised to note, that life existed before Nanny State government took over.
In fact, before the 20th century, most infrastructure was privately owned and operated for profit.
Roads, toll bridges, ferries, rail roads, canals, etc, etc., often were cash cows for their owners.
In those "bad old days," the federal tax bite was 0.09% of the GNP.
Today's aggregate tax bite (local, state, and federal) comes to 42% of the GDP.
(You pay more, if you aren't in a recipient class)
Embrace your socialist chains, you paid quite a lot for them.
If it's the 19th century lifestyle you want, then go ahead. No one's holding you back. The Alaskan bush country awaits your arrival. Low taxes and less nanny state except for the annual oil check you'd get just for living there.
You may be surprised to note, that life existed before Nanny State government took over.
In fact, before the 20th century, most infrastructure was privately owned and operated for profit.
Roads, toll bridges, ferries, rail roads, canals, etc, etc., often were cash cows for their owners.
In those "bad old days," the federal tax bite was 0.09% of the GNP.
Today's aggregate tax bite (local, state, and federal) comes to 42% of the GDP.
(You pay more, if you aren't in a recipient class)
Embrace your socialist chains, you paid quite a lot for them.
^^irony a person complaining about taxes and "socialist chains" while using the internet which is brought to you via...wait for it.....TAXES!!
Paying taxes does not equal socialism.
Things taxes pay for:
Firefighters
Police officers
Judges
Politicians
Libraries
Roads/streets/highways/bridges/maintenance and repair
Schools/teachers/supplies/maintenance
Internet/phone lines/electrical lines
Public transportation/drivers/operators/maintenance and repairs
Sewage lines/public facilities
Stop lights/traffic signs
Healthcare
Hospitals
Unemployment
SNAP
National Parks/park rangers/maintenance
Museums
Monuments
Zoos
Military
NASA
Post office/postal workers/mail carriers/mail trucks
Shall I go on?? It takes money to run a country and functioning society. Since we all live here and all use these services to varying degrees, it's only fair that we all chip in to keep things up and running. So unless you are willing to give up all that stuff, stop complaining about paying taxes.
But...EVERYONE needs to "chip in"...and not take more of our taxes for the lazy and "entitled"....
I don't know about you...but I PAY for this freaking internet......
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