Liberty has never come from the government. Liberty has always come from the subjects of it. The history of liberty is a history of resistance. »» Woodrow Wilson

Applied Anarchy: Why Taxes Are Theft

Posted on April 13, 2008

Part of the Applied Anarchy 2008 Series - Previous in series Next in series

It was recently brought to my attention that though I frequently refer to taxes being “stolen money” and being collected “at the point of a gun” I’ve never really explained that reality. My assumption was that this was as self-evident to others as it has always been to myself, but apparently it’s not so self-evident after all. So here you go…

If I approach you on the street and demand money from you would you give it to me? What if I threatened you with a gun? Would it be right for me to insist you give me the money from your wallet? What if I only wanted one third of the money in your wallet? What if I promised you protection and other services in return for the money? Would you consider this theft? I imagine you would. Mugging, robbery, extortion. And you would be right in that assessment.

What if I stopped you on the street and had 10 people agreeing that you should give me the money? Would it still be theft? Of course it would. How about 100 people? 1,000? 10,000? 1,000,000? At what point does it no longer qualify as theft, robbery or extortion? If your answer is “never” then you’re not only a rational human being, but you also agree that taxes are theft, though you may not have realized it.

Because that’s exactly what the govrenment has done. They’ve gathered a large group of people together to assert that they have the right to take one-third (or more) of your money and that you have no choice in the matter. Should you resist, they will shoot you. Don’t believe me? Then it’s time for another example.

If you stop paying property taxes what do you think is going to happen? The government will send you letter after letter demanding “their” money. They may even make a few phone calls or send some bureaucrat by your house to try and collect. If you continue to refuse to hand over your hard earned money they’ll eventually send a police officer, sheriff or other law enforcement officer to your house to evict you.

Notice that gun on the law enforcement officer’s hip? It’s there for a reason. Because if you refuse to leave the property that you paid for with money that you worked for, and still refuse to hand over a share of that hard earned money to the state, then the law enforcement officer is going to try to handcuff you and drag you off of your property. if you continue to resist he’s going to pull that gun and point it at you. If you still refuse to pay their extortion (aka taxes) and still refuse to abandon your little part of the American dream, then the police officers will shoot you. That’s what the gun is there for.

The only difference between a mugger in a dark alley and a law enforcement officer is the amount of money they demand from you (the government wants far more then the mugger) and the number of people backing them up.