This piece of paper says you owe me money
Halt! You owe me money and I want you to give it to me RIGHT NOW!
I'm sorry... what? You want me to PROVE that you owe me money?
You kind of caught me off guard. Let's see...
If I were to take two pieces of paper and write on each one that you owe me money because of what is written on the other, would that PROVE you owe me money? What if I sent you threats in the mail for not paying? Would that PROVE you owe me money? How about if I drag you in front of a bunch of people to show them what I wrote on these two pieces of paper? Would that PROVE you owe me money? If I was willing to kidnap you and throw you in a cage, would that PROVE you owe me money?
What if it was someone else who wrote what is written on these pieces of paper? What if that person died of natural causes a long time ago? What if you aren't even specifically mentioned on these pieces of paper? What if I wasn't actually given these pieces of paper but instead found them somewhere before you were even born?
Would any of this PROVE that you owe me money?
What if I call one piece of paper "the constitution" and the other "the tax code"? What if I called my threats "demands to file" and "assessments"? What if I call myself a "tax agent"? What if I call the people I drag you in front of a "judge", "jury" and "prosecutor"? What if I call the process of dragging you in front of them to show off my pieces of paper a "trial"? What if I call kidnapping you and imprisoning you "justice"?
Would any of this PROVE that you owe me money?
If my pieces of paper can't prove beyond a reasonable doubt that you owe me money, how could I prove beyond a reasonable doubt that you failed to pay what you owe? If I can't prove beyond a reasonable doubt that you failed to pay what you owe, wouldn't that indicate that you don't actually owe me anything? If I force you to pay me despite the fact that you don't actually owe me anything, wouldn't that make me a thief and a bully?
If I can't provide evidence of a debt in this manner, how could anyone else? If no one can provide evidence of a debt in this manner, how can it be demonstrated that anyone actually has an obligation to pay taxes?
If no one actually has an obligation to pay taxes, wouldn't that mean "government" is just a group of men and women who force people to pay them?
It undoubtedly would.
I'm Jared Howe! I'm a Voluntaryist hip hop artist and professional technical editor/writer with a passion for Austrian economics and universal ethics. You can catch my podcast every Friday on the Seeds of Liberty Podcast Network.
Great piece. Larken Rose did a great video on this that's worth watching.
taxation is extortion....
gives us your money or we'll use force against you
Wait... are you comparing the Constitution of the United States to IRS 1040 forms?
Those are two very different documents with two very different purposes, created by very different people.
No, I'm certainly not. I'm comparing one instance of circular logic to another instance of circular logic.
Given that I'm not comparing the constitution to tax forms, the above is completely non-responsive to what I've written here.
I read that the Libertarian party in the US proposes to do away with the IRS. Interesting to see that so many are speaking out about the inequality of the taxation system both in the US and in other parts of the world including here in Canada. (Although our high taxes deliver some amazing social benefits making Canada one of the best places to live in some respects.) I'm actually more concerned with the profits raked in by our financial institutions and by the barons of all of the war-benefiting industries.
Than taxes? How would financial institutions profit from ill gotten gains absent the Federal Reserve? How would war profiteers profit absent a tax funded war? Why don't the members of the LP oppose all taxation? They presumably have no issue with the tax theft that would fund their salaries, right?
I don't see how banks or contractors could be any threat to anyone absent a group of men and women with a monopoly on violence.
Thanks for pointing those out, @jaredhowe. I don't know enough to be commenting on your post but I look forward to reading more of your writing.
Very nice argument and examples, but most indoctrinated people are just not going to get it, as I'm sure you know. Their responses will make you scratch your head and wonder, "Did they actually read what I just wrote?" Don't give up, though. You never know when a certain argument will make it through to one individual.
Thanks for the words of encouragement. There will always be obtuse people. I've been fortunate enough to have been relatively successful in getting my point across over the years.
read it once, still little confused, going to read it again and see if i understand better - sounds logical in a round about wa....
i didn't sign shit lulz
As always, your jurisdictional argument against authority is a masterpiece of eloquent rhetoric and sound logic.