If you study the history of taxation of any country, you will note that it has been one long debate on constitutionality and unconstitutionality of taxation. Most often than not, taxation was seen as a means of amassing wealth, subjugating the enemy, financing a war or developing a nation by the rulers. All land and all wealth rightfully belonged to the monarch and the citizen was allowed to enjoy “income” at the mercy of the State. Property could be taken over, confiscated without explanations by the State. It was a declaration of the power and right of the State and a definition of the boundaries of their freedom. If the subjects saw the ability to tax differently, it was just too bad.
The concept of taxation in the modern world is really not very different. In countries driven by socialistic principles, the common good is placed above the individual good and all land, property and incomes belong to the society/State. Individual wealth and inheritance concepts do not exist. In capitalistic countries where the concept individual freedom and personal good reign supreme, voluntary compliance is, seemingly encouraged and people are persuaded to consider paying taxes a duty. Penal sections of the law were enacted as disincentives to tax avoidance.
Even today, in most countries, tax laws define the boundaries of your economic freedom. You are free to earn, live and love in a community so long as you give back to the community something of what you receive from the community. If you do not do so with the spirit of joy, voluntarily, the state has the power to act Robin Hood. It is no wonder, therefore, that there are several voices that declare taxation a socialistic tenet in a capitalistic world!
It follows that while economies can be capitalistic or socialistic, no Government can afford to be wholly capitalistic. While they can respect the concepts of “liberty, equality and fraternity”, they cannot place the individual good over the common good without extending an invitation to anarchy. Unbounded freedom is a myth and rightly so. Do you agree?
“Unbounded freedom is a myth and rightly so. Do you agree?”
Yes, quite right.
There is no such thing as ‘freedom without responsibility.’
It is one of those universal paradoxes – the freer a society is, is related to the level of inherent responibilitity of the individuals within it.
We are free to enjoy where we live, where we work, who we marry, how many children we have, and we are also free to pay taxes.
In a democratic or capalists society, there much be a reasonable level of goodwill for it to flourish.
As, you cannot effectively legislate righteousness and the more you try, the more you tie up the ‘good citizens’ and leave them to take on more and more responibility (finnancial, penal, family, etc..) for the iresponsible.
Unfortunately, in the ever increasing capitalistic societies of the world, we see this as a very sad trend.
Yet, also, we see a growing global trend of taking some responsibility for neighbours in desperate need not of their own making, such as Haiti right now. This is very pleasing.
One one observer put it – “Democracy is the very worst form of govenment, that is apart for all the rest.”
I suspect that the more capitalistic we become, and the less goodwill is extended, that only a deeply dynamic heart change will prevent us from slipping toward a selfish, materialistic, amoral global village.
And for me, that deeply dynamic heart change would come from a revival with Jesus Christ
at the helm.
This is very true. However, in Robin Hood’s case, he took money from the rich who were harassing the peasants and amassing wealth, while here, the state just forces the rich to become Robin Hoods, acts as an intermediary and distributes the wealth to take all the credit. How much of that wealth is used for the actual uplift of the poor is questionable. It is highly probable that they use the wealth to come up with some hare brained scheme that takes the fancy of one bureaucrat, only to be reversed by another a couple of years down the line. Awesome post!