Reader Rant: EP’s “Latest Screed”

Here’s the latest reader Rant – along with my reply!

Herman writes: Taxes have at least two purposes: a) generation of revenue and b) control of behavior. In regard to the second (really the first) consider the so-called “income tax,” which is really a tax on productivity. Do something useful? Government penalizes you for your actions. Do something else useful to pay the productivity penalty? Sorry, now you owe additional penalty, on a sliding scale based on “productivity.” The automotive analogy is: tractor pull. The harder you pull, the more difficult it gets to set yourself free. Aside: Wage slaves are encouraged not to think about this through “payroll withholding” (i.e., prepayment) of “income tax.” The government attempts to further cheat its subjects by overestimating the amount of tax withheld, so that those who blindly follow the withholding tables pay too much tax during the year, and are due a “refund” when filing their tax returns, on which the government pays no interest.

Stupid people regard this as a “reward” for good behavior. Those of us who are self-employed are all too painfully aware of la mordita. Years ago, there was (sort of) a “way out,” known as the mortgage interest deduction. This, in concert with FHA and other financial programs, was intended to encourage purchase of single family homes. As of last year, this tax break has been eliminated for most people, though still available for the wealthy. Those who live in “stack and pack” rented battery cages (aka, ugly-as-sin “transit adjacent development”) have no use for a mortgage interest deduction, because they own no property, and will, as you say, have their “mobility” severely restricted. This is already happening.Draw your own conclusions. What’s next? A “breathing tax” on humans, to reduce CO2 emissions?

My reply: Yes, indeed. The overall object being to keep us perpetually under economic pressure, in order to keep us from becoming economically independent – which would end any dependence on government as well as free us from the cycle of reciprocal predation, which is the way government obtains our wealth as well as control over the populace.

As loathsome as income taxes are, however, I consider taxes on property far worse. Income taxes can, after all, be avoided by not generating income – and if one owned one’s place free and clear, once could get by with very little income. Put another way: A man could work – and pay income taxes – for a period of years, using those years to save and eventually pay off his home/land. At which point – absent taxes on the property – he would be free.

But we can never be free – so long as we own (sic) property, because it is necessary to continue earning income, in order to pay the taxes on it.

. . .