Politics 101: Does Paying Taxes Help People?

Recent events have made it clear that we bloggers need to get back to basics.  Many avid "googlers" are young, uninformed or miseducated.  These are people who need the first spark to ignite their moral and intellectual fires.  They have never heard the ring of truth. They have not read F.A. Hayek, Adam Smith or The Bible.  They have loose grasp upon the power of truth.  So, my young friends let me offer a spark for your torch to help you on your journey of enlightenment and truth.

You have likely wondered, "do paying my taxes help other people and should I feel charitable for paying my taxes?"  Your teachers and other authority figures will surely say yes to these questions.  After all, it may be illegal to tell someone to refuse to pay their taxes.  I do not intend to dissuade you from paying your legally required taxes.

This is not the same as believing that taxes are an altruistic endeavor. Your taxes are not going to help anyone but politicians.  Taxpayers would better spend the money according to nearly every economist in history.  The people who take the money become entitled, dependent and handicapped much like a domesticated animal.  (There are rare exceptions, but at the moment our governments most altruistic efforts involve ammunition.)

If any person is not required to be productive, they will not be productive. If any person does not compete on a level playing field, they will not improve regardless of whether they are have an advantage or disadvantage.  ("They pretend to pay us, we pretend to work" was the motto of the powerless soviet worker. "Hope and Change" was the motto of the entitled and anointed man who became President and then failed to grow into the task.)  A person required to do the work of another will rebel, resent and may learn to hate the people whom he is enslaved by and for.

The goals of the communist party hinge upon "rights" defined by the government.  Such rights are referred to as entitlements.  Entitled "rights" are not based upon the natural right to survival through one's individual efforts.

Entitlements lead to societal unrest, they often do harm to everyone involved and have toppled entire civilizations.  Consider the fate of the U.S.S.R. and that China is moving away from communism.  America is currently the oldest government on the planet because our rights do not come from the government. American rights are inherent and inalienable.  Our Bill of Rights is the list of the individual rights needed for survival, not entitlement.

Americans are not entitled to the benefits of the efforts of another.  American society puts the responsibility to help upon the individual and assigns virtue to those who take on the responsibility. America also has a charity system that is accountable to those who support it.  The government is not charitable because taxes are mandatory and are therefor considered a necessary evil. Do not be complacent and rationalize that your taxes are charitable, they may be doing more harm than good.