AN EXAMINATION OF FREEDOM FROM THE INSIDE OUT

From the outside, your freedoms look pretty good, and that's because they are nicely packaged.  You know how that works; it's all about the wrapper these days.  And they're broadly outlined in a Constitution that was written back in horse and buggy days and now are applied to a high tech society.  But, that old Constitution looks good and is revered by many and held in the same esteem as the Bible. Rights, or freedoms, even sound good when you hear them read aloud, like the right to keep and bear arms.  Right, arms.  Is that, uh, a single shot musket, or a submachine gun?  How about the right to free expression, like speech and press?  Try that one on for size and see how it fits.  Freely express you thoughts and see what happens, even if that right is protected by some vague law.  And, you how the right to worship as you please.  Uh, huh?  Put a big metal statue of a bull in your yard and start worshiping that in public and see what happens to you.  Here's the upshot of it all:  All rights, or freedoms, are relative and not absolute.  You don't have an absolute right to do anything but die. Wait!  That's not right either.  If you blow your brains out in a fit of depression, you could be prosecuted for first degree murder . . . were you still alive to be prosecuted.

These things are somewhat reasonable, but it gets worse than that.  You have the right to move about freely, right?  Well, just partly right.  If you travel and drive a car, you must have a registered car with insurance and a license to drive it, and if you cross state lines, you might be subject to checkpoints which determine if your vehicle is mechanically correct, like it's equipped with air pollution equipment not required in your state.  Weights and measure change from state to state, and so do traffic regulations you must abide by.  What this means is, you're nowhere near being free as a bird.  You have a right to ownership of property, but that too is subjective.  You can title it in you name, outright own it (owe no money on it), and still be subject to a bevy of restrictions as to what kind of buildings you may have, how they are constructed, and lots of other petty requirements.  And if you don't do these things, they fine the crap out of you.  And even once it's built, the government will assume they're in partnership with you and demand taxes on it.  Yeah, sometimes big taxes.

I could go on and on about living in America, but the more I point out to you about freedoms, the more you'll see how restricted these rights really are.  Did the thought ever cross your mind that you are the government's meal ticket?  They extract money from other sources, but you're the main target.  Government is notorious for being unfair about taxation, leave big loopholes for the rich, let the poorer classes off easy on income tax, and stick it to the moderate wage earner big time.  And the U.S. government isn't the main culprit here; it's the states and localities digging into your pocket these days through property taxes and various other levies.  And there's a great propaganda machine in place here that convinces you that all of this is fair, it's just the ticket you must buy to ride this great train to freedom.  In effect, what it is, dear citizen, is a ripoff.  Your freedoms are strictly limited, the government does little to protect you against even worse corporate ripoffs, and that makes you the turkey.

Does that sound to you like a well functioning democracy?  Uh, no, but don't worry about it.  This country hasn't been a democracy for a long time.  It's a system run by and for the vested interests, the top tier of society, and it's a ripoff for almost everyone else.  And apparently, you like it that way, or are willing to tolerate it.  The good news is that this won't last forever or even for much longer.  It won't end with a revolution of the oppressed masses, but it will eventually die from bloat . . . you know, greed.  This is what has brought down most great empires, rot from within.  If you start sniffing the air, you'll smell it.  It's already here, and that means it's just a matter of time before the beast finally dies.

THE TAX NOBODY NEEDS?

Somewhere in a far off distant land, there are no taxes.  Right. 

Somewhere in government offices, there is no discussion about taxes.  Right.

Somewhere in the Great Hereafter, there will be no taxes to be paid.  Do what?

The period of enlightenment brought about lots of changes in the world, all for the better in my opinion.  People around the world had been taught for centuries a concept called the divine rights of kings, which meant that God had selected these monarchs and that it was your christian duty to obey them.  And kings were big into taxation because the notion of taxing the masses had been around for  a long time.  One of the things enlightenment preached was that we should scrap the divine rights of kings concept.  Life should be more than living under autocratic rule where the kings took what they wanted and left you very little.  Don't wait on the hereafter as a promise of reward for being dutiful citizens . . . do something about it now.  Get rid of the kings. Get a government that works better for people.  Get rid of taxes that choke the life out of you.

And we did get rid of kings, and government is better than it was several centuries back . . . but wait!  What about the tax thing?  We've still got 'em, and they're still choking us down . . . well, most of us.  Some people, because they have influence with government, pretty much skate when it comes to taxes.  And we, meaning those of us who live in the U.S., are suffering under a heavy tax burden that needs to be changed.  Inequity is the biggest problem with it, and most taxes are too high.  So, why do we still have them?  'Cause we're suckers, that's why.  We've been chumped by propaganda that for the most part says government needs all that money so it can take better care of us.  We're still being told, in a round about way, that God wants us to pay taxes so we can save liberty and all that good stuff. 

I won't argue that we don't need some taxation.  Government has never come up with a way to make money any other way, so they take it from the citizenry.  They always have, and it may always be that way . . . and there's some justification for it.  And you can't argue that we don't get back a lot from what we put into the system.  Everyone wants good roads to drive on, good schools for our kids, prisons to put away the bad guys . . . and to defend our country . . . and to take care of the poor and disadvantaged.  And that's not the big problem because most people will willingly pay taxes, regardless of the reasoning behind it.  It's the inequity, the unfairness about how taxes are applied and collected.  And there is a big reason for that - politicians.  Do you trust these people to do it fairly?  I don't.  And you want to know what really burns my butt?  I don't have a solution to the problem, and apparently neither does anyone else. 

There's an old saying that the only thing we really have to do is die and pay taxes.  Right.  But if you're thinking that one fixes the other, that when you die the paying of taxes will be over, you're wrong.  You won't have to pay it because you're dead, but whoever gets it will damn sure be taxed.  It looks like taxation is more permanent than even death.