Awakening: 'Taxation is theft' meme goes viral

Monday, March 28, 2016

'Taxation is theft' meme goes viral

Sharing memes won't save the world on its own, but it can help to raise awareness about important ideas and get people curious about concepts that they have not considered before. One recent example of this phenomena is how the phrase "taxation is theft" has recently become mainstream thanks to a viral meme campaign.

Hundreds of memes, some that are funny, and some that don't even make sense, relating to the "taxation is theft" theme have littered the Internet in recent weeks; and while some people may be getting tired of them, they are having an incredible impact in raising awareness about the idea.

In fact, a quick look at Google search data shows that the last month has seen a massive spike in online interest in the term and that Web searches for the term are at an all-time high.

If you are confused by the term "taxation is theft," just think of the government as people without any special privileges. If an average person takes money from someone under the threat of force it is called robbery, but if the government does it is considered legal and moral, and is called "taxation." No one actually ever agreed to this arrangement; it has been forced on millions of people against their will, and a long list of justifications have been created to convince people that they are not being stolen from.

Since the government is allowed to extract money from its citizens at the barrel of a gun, this guarantees that they will have funding for any kind of project they want, even if those projects are unpopular with taxpayers. This is because the public has no choice but to pay taxes; therefore, they have no say in how their money is used and are typically forced into paying for their own oppression, and the slaughtering of their neighbors.

Sure, there are some social welfare programs that do benefit some people, but the money that these projects cost are a tiny fraction of the money that is actually received from taxation. Most of the money that is brought in through taxes is used for bureaucratic budgets, collection enforcement, and the gluttony of federal and state governments. So, while a portion of the revenue is being used for beneficial projects, a majority of the money is still being wasted or used for nefarious means. Some researchers have described this as a thief giving you five dollars, while at the same time taking a hundred dollars from your back pocket.

There is an unbelievable amount of fear directed at this concept because for so long, our civilizations have been propelled by violence instead of rationality. Immediately upon hearing about these ideas of doing away with coercive taxation, many people who are new to the idea will immediately scoff, "if taxes were not collected under threat of force then no one will pay them and there will be chaos and the poor will die in the streets."

This statement shows that taxation isn't working for the average person. Therefore, ideas about "the consent of the governed" and "the social contract" are complete fallacies. If someone explicitly states that people wouldn't pay taxes if they weren't mandatory, they are then admitting that tax revenue is not used to benefit the public and that no one would pay if they didn't have a gun to their head.

When a need arises in a community, people naturally come together and take care of what needs to be done; they don't need someone with a gun in their face telling them how to do it. For our species to have any chance on this earth, we must start thinking about more peaceful ways of going about things, and stop justifying the use of violence in all circumstances, even soft-core violence like legislation, taxation, and indoctrination.

These two got married and didn't ask government for permission.The Free Thought Project.com (Y)#TaxationIsTheft

Posted by The Free Thought Project.com on Thursday, March 24, 2016