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If all else were equal [yes, I know that things are never equal] how much you pay the government every year to be left alone on your farm can be seen as your annual 'dues'. Or maybe it is our 'fare' to play the game another year.
I have owned homes before where I had to pay $4,000 or $5,000 a year. But where I am now sitting on 150 acres of land, I pay around $850 a year. That covers taxes on our land and our house.
Regardless of where you live, you will need to provide food, fuel and fiber for your family, in addition to this annual fair to be allowed to play the game for another year.
To be allowed to exist I must produce this much money every year, to keep the government happy. In a lot of places the minimum required amount is much more.
If all else were equal [yes, I know that things are never equal] how much you pay the government every year to be left alone on your farm can be seen as your annual 'dues'. Or maybe it is our 'fare' to play the game another year.
I have owned homes before where I had to pay $4,000 or $5,000 a year. But where I am now sitting on 150 acres of land, I pay around $850 a year. That covers taxes on our land and our house.
Regardless of where you live, you will need to provide food, fuel and fiber for your family, in addition to this annual fair to be allowed to play the game for another year.
To be allowed to exist I must produce this much money every year, to keep the government happy. In a lot of places the minimum required amount is much more.
Very true.
I think the only place in the US that is "government imposed rent" free (no fare or life tax) is certain areas of interior Alaska. But, as I'm assuming we all know, challenges of a different sort would be far more "taxing" than is the government life tax. For instance... mid January in the cabin fifty miles from Tok, AK... and you're running low on provisions and snowed in at -50 degrees F. That would be a challenge which is probably much more galling than having to pay uncle same to live the kind of freedom that was guaranteed in the Constitution (without the fee at that time). Then again, a true "prepper" would have avoided that situation by stocking in surplus the summer before.
But still, -50 degrees F is quite cold and only marginally more desirable than property tax... er, rent.
I live in an unorganized borough in interior Alaska and have no property tax. Part of the reason I chose the area was that I could build whatever I wanted without having to ask for permission. The no property tax is just a bonus. It's usually not -50 but it is very cold and dark this time of year.
I think the only place in the US that is "government imposed rent" free (no fare or life tax) is certain areas of interior Alaska. But, as I'm assuming we all know, challenges of a different sort would be far more "taxing" than is the government life tax. For instance... mid January in the cabin fifty miles from Tok, AK... and you're running low on provisions and snowed in at -50 degrees F. That would be a challenge which is probably much more galling than having to pay uncle same to live the kind of freedom that was guaranteed in the Constitution (without the fee at that time). Then again, a true "prepper" would have avoided that situation by stocking in surplus the summer before.
But still, -50 degrees F is quite cold and only marginally more desirable than property tax... er, rent.
The Founding Fathers weren't opposed to all taxes—only those that were enacted without consent of the governed.
The true "prepper" seems more concerned with his government employment or government pension. Without these minions, government would wither.
I live in an unorganized borough in interior Alaska and have no property tax. Part of the reason I chose the area was that I could build whatever I wanted without having to ask for permission. The no property tax is just a bonus. It's usually not -50 but it is very cold and dark this time of year.
That is definitely a huge plus for the area you live: no property tax, no building codes (I have nothing against building codes when the address safety, not the pocketbook--half the codes are enacted for financial reasons and have zero to do with safety).
Years ago, when I decided I wanted to withdraw from modern society, Alaska was on top of my list. I still scan the web occasionally to see what land is going for up there. But scanning is about as far as it has gone. Even being a cold weather person, I don't know if I could take THAT much cold. Who knows, maybe I could. I suppose we can all adapt given sufficient reason to do so. The way society in the Con US is going, you never know...
The Founding Fathers weren't opposed to all taxes—only those that were enacted without consent of the governed.
True.
But I don't think they could have envisioned anything close to the tax system we have today. Back then, they would have had a second revolution for far less. I think the Civil War marked the beginning of the turn from individualism to state-sponsored collectivism. That collectivism started out as nothing compared to what we have today, but that is about when the policies were beginning to be enacted to go the direction we have now gone. It really amped up about the time of Wilson's presidency and has snowballed since then. And each iteration takes us farther from individualism and self-sufficiency.
Then, as now, local governments were funded by property taxes. In fact, if you didn't pay property tax you didn't get to vote. The Federal Government ran on import duties and excise taxes. You paid your taxes when you bought anything that was imported or manufactured. Then, as now, if you made it yourself there was no tax. You are still free to make it yourself, tax free, and you are still free to not be a property owner and avoid property taxes. Excise taxes and import duties worked well until we had to put down the insurrection in the south. The first income tax was levied during the Civil War, and made permanent by constitutional amendment for the same reason - maintaining a standing army and fighting huge wars is expensive.
"The first income tax was levied during the Civil War, and made permanent by constitutional amendment for the same reason - maintaining a standing army and fighting huge wars is expensive."
Sorta... I agree with you that the first STATED income tax was then, but the actual first income tax was the whiskey tax. Whiskey was the only portable output of subsistence farmers, and WAS their income. The whiskey rebellion set the stage for a lot of bad behavior on the part of government. It is worth studying.
Then, as now, local governments were funded by property taxes. In fact, if you didn't pay property tax you didn't get to vote. The Federal Government ran on import duties and excise taxes. You paid your taxes when you bought anything that was imported or manufactured. Then, as now, if you made it yourself there was no tax. You are still free to make it yourself, tax free, and you are still free to not be a property owner and avoid property taxes. Excise taxes and import duties worked well until we had to put down the insurrection in the south. The first income tax was levied during the Civil War, and made permanent by constitutional amendment for the same reason - maintaining a standing army and fighting huge wars is expensive.
And you are also free to find an area that is less tyrannical with property taxation. As noted earlier, parts of interior AK has no such tax at all. When locating my own property, I was very careful to compare property taxation and eliminate areas which has a government with gluttonous spending problems. Spending money like a drunken sailor is not my idea of fiscal responsibility. As a result, taxes on my land are hardly even worth noting. I certainly couldn't say that if I were in, say... NJ.
As far as the Excise tax... that's a whole lot like the "Fair Tax" proposal, of which I'm a huge fan. Of course, that's because I don't have a spending problem, buy very little, and consume even less. Let the people who consume the most goods and services pay for them. Enough of this socialist garbage.
Last edited by ChrisC; 12-06-2017 at 02:20 PM..
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