One example of very many:
Biden passed a $1 trillion infrastructure bill in 2021 with $7.6 BILLION set aside for electric car chargers.
A grand total of 0 new chargers were built with that funding.
Where did all that money go?
Any free market value-for-value business that attempted this would go out of business almost immediately.
Compulsion removes the free-market feedback.
Also, when 16th Amendment was passed in 1909 legalizing income taxes in USA, taxes were initially 2%. So your metric for measuring whats appropriate is a subjective ever-shifting goalpost.
Lastly, society was thriving before income taxes. The gold standard between the civil war and WWI produced most of our technologies today such as internal combustion engine, electricity, cameras, television, telephone, etc etc. All that without compulsory taxes.
Put down the philosophy books and pick up a history book
Replies (2)
That is a great example. It’s a great thing to critique the squandering and inefficient use of taxes, and also to highlight whatever possible corruption might be happening. I think that example highlights that it’s a question of how much, what it’s spent on, and is it being used effectively; it’s not an argument to say that taxes shouldn’t exist. The fact that taxes currently get misused is not an argument against taxes, it’s an argument against the misuse of taxes. I’ll finish reading Human Action, but when I’m done, what history book would you recommend I pick up to learn more about taxes?
I never said taxes shouldnt exist - I said they should not be compulsory under threat of state-sanctioned violence.
If [any subject] requires forceful compulsion, it is only because it cannot persuade in a market of free choices. People want quality public services - they do not want to be stolen from.
Tax revenue received would then reflect political performance (or lack thereof) instead of enabling consistently gross abuse of public resources. It would make tax revenue dynamic and truely value-for-value, just like how a private business receives revenue only by offering quality service.
