Errors That Will Not Die

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Taxes are not the basis of civilization. Taxation is a form of theft where a government extorts the productive population in order to transfer wealth to the politically-connected. It is a claim by a government to superior ownership over all goods and services, and to all providers of services or producers of goods. Government is a parasite on civilization, feeding off the productive class.

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Tax revenue is used for two broad purposes: Directly funding government programs, and as collateral for loans to the government. Any government's debt is funded by the promise of interest payments - and theoretically, principal payments, though they rarely get paid - through future tax revenue. Government programs are built on the premise of extorting current generations and enslaving future generations as collateral for these debts.

If someone resists government's ownership claims over his property and earnings, he will be robbed - fines may be levied and his wages will be garnished, even if physical property is not directly confiscated. Should he resist robbery, he will be kidnapped (arrested and imprisoned) or murdered, all under color of law. Governments claim total ownership over life and property, and enforce their claims through brutal violence. That is not civilized. That is slavery.

"But there's a social contract!"

Robert Higgs responded best to this argument when he said,

". . . In regard to the so-called social contract, I have often had occasion to protest that I haven't even seen the contract, much less been asked to consent to it. A valid contract requires voluntary offer, acceptance, and consideration. I've never received an offer from my rulers, so I certainly have not accepted one; and rather than consideration, I have received nothing but contempt from the rulers, who, notwithstanding the absence of any agreement, have indubitably threatened me with grave harm in the event that I fail to comply with their edicts." - Source

There is no evidence of consent. There is only compliance under duress. That is uncivilized bullying, not civilized cooperation.

But what about the roads/education/security/[insert government service here]?

Government programs are cited as the pinnacle of civilization, but every government "service" is a monopoly with all the waste and abuse inherent in any monopoly compounded by the economic calculation problem of central planning.

Historically, every service presently provided by government has been provided by the market. The Lincoln Highway and Dixie Highway were a massive network of roads connecting the US from coast to coast and from Florida to Canada, created by businessmen to promote the automobile industry and funded almost entirely by entrepreneurs and business associations along the routes chosen. The Bridge of the Gods on the Columbia River is an example of a major infrastructure project funded entirely by private banks and created by entrepreneurs.

Education only recently became a government program, and prior to state involvement, the US had already become perhaps the most literate country in the world. Government "free" education has been a dismal failure resulting in stagnation and even regression in educational outcomes. Since government has no means to measure consumer satisfaction, the result is to spend more money and establish worthless benchmarks. This failure would not be accepted in the market, and those who could not provide an education would be out of business. Under government,w e see a massive bureaucracy intent only upon perpetuating and growing its government benefits. Government has replaced cooperation and local control with coercion and a blockade of bureaucracy. How is this an advancement for civilization?

The incentives are likewise perverted in every other government program, whether police protection, national security, or welfare for the poor. The police enforce arbitrary and abusive prohibitions while failing to investigate real crimes. Governments wage massive pointless wars that destroy civilian lives and provide the excuses needed for foreign governments to claim ever-more power as well. This is all demonstrably anti-civilization.