Taxation is theft?
Taxation is theft, this much I know. The more money you earn, the more that you owe.
Definition of theft 1 a : the act of stealing; specifically : the taking and removing of personal property with intent to deprive the rightful owner of it. This fact that it is theft is not altered because of what someone does with the money after taking it. You wouldn’t say after someone has robbed you, “Oh, you gave the money to the poor? In that case, it wasn’t theft after all.” No; you might claim that it is a socially beneficial theft, but it is still a theft. Now, let's compare the case of taxation.
When the government “taxes” "citizens", what this means is that the government demands money from each "citizen", under a threat of force and violence: If you do not pay, armed agents hired by the government will seize your property, your assets in some cases, worse take you away and lock you in a cage. This looks like about as clear of a case of stealing people’s property as you can get. They are literally stealing your body and other things with the intention of depriving you. So the government is a thief. This conclusion cannot be changed by the fact that the government uses the money for a good cause (if it even does so). That might make taxation a socially beneficial kind of theft, but it is still theft. The imposition of a federal income tax is more than just taking from those who work and earn and giving to those who don’t... it is more than just a faucet to fill the federal cup. At its core, it is a terrifying presumption. It presumes that we don’t really own our property or the money we earn. It accepts the Marxist notion that the state owns all the property and the state permits us to keep and use whatever it needs us to have so that we won’t riot in the streets. Then it steals and uses whatever it can politically get away with. There are a few ways to acquire wealth in a "free" society. The inheritance model; when someone gives you wealth. The economic model; when you trade a skill, a talent, an asset, knowledge, sweat, energy or creativity to a willing buyer. And the mafia model; when a guy with a gun says: “Give me your money or else.” Which model does the government use?
The Constitution doesn’t permit the feds to steal your money. But steal, the feds do.
Taxation Is Always Theft.
Taxation is not theft because: Citizens have agreed to pay taxes. This is part of the “social contract,” which is a kind of agreement between citizens and the government, where the citizens agree to pay taxes and obey the laws, in return for the government’s protection. By using government services (such as roads, schools, and police), and remaining present in the government’s territory, you indicate that you accept the social contract. There simply isn’t any such contract. The government has never actually written up and offered such a contract, nor has anyone signed it. Still, the use of government services might imply agreement to pay for those services, if people who didn’t use the services were not required to pay. But in fact, the government forces citizens to pay taxes regardless of whether they use government services or not. Therefore, the fact that you use government services does not indicate anything about whether you agree to pay taxes.
Remaining present in “the government’s territory” also does not indicate agreement to the putative social contract. The government does not, in fact, own all the land that it claims as “its territory”; this land is, rather, largely owned by private individuals. If I own some land that other people are using, I can demand that the other people either pay me money or vacate my land. But if I see some people on their land, I cannot demand that they either pay me money or vacate their own land. If I do that, I am a thief. Similarly, when the government demands that we either pay it money or vacate our own land, the government acts as a thief.
Taxes are just the price the government charges for providing law and order. Without taxation, the government would collapse, then all social order would break down, and then you wouldn’t have any money at all. Taxation is unlike theft because thieves do not provide valuable services, let alone services that enable you to make the very money that they are taking a portion of. It doesn’t matter that you were provided a good or service in exchange. What matters is that someone took your money without your consent. It also does not matter if you benefit greatly from the good or service.Taking people’s property without consent is theft.
