From: utzoo!decvax!cca!hplabs!hplabsb!soreff
Newsgroups: net.politics
Title: Re: progressive tax
Article-I.D.: hplabsb.1217
Posted: Wed Dec 15 15:03:49 1982
Received: Sun Dec 19 05:11:38 1982
References: mitccc.219

In response to John Woods' article:
I would not define the boundary between slavery and freedom in terms of the
fraction of my earnings which are seized, but rather in terms of whether
anyone is in the position to force me to follow arbitrary orders. This is a
strictly personal view. I think of taxation as being rather like a form of
consistent computer theft by the government from the point of view of
personal impact. It means I can save and buy less than I would without the
taxes, but it is predictable (so I can budget for it) and doesn't involve
the collateral damage that a burglary would. To contrast it with the draft:
the IRS can't risk my life, if the department of war had me in its clutches
it could. The IRS forces me to take a single action each year, no
such limit exists on a slave holder. In fact, the IRS has a lot less control
over my life than the company I work for does. Certainly I could switch
companies if I found one I strongly preferred, and which accepted me, but
the same thing applies to countries.  -Jeffrey Soreff (hplabs!soreff)