A Case for Secession -Taxation
By Patrick Samuels, author of: “Memories of a Former American”
We will begin with the area that was one of the primary motivations for the colonists to declare their independence from Great Britain-Taxes. Suffice it so say that the amount of taxes England sought to impose upon those Americans do not hold a candle to the taxes we already pay our imperial national government today. All governments require taxes to perform their functions and we all grudgingly admit the necessity of paying them. Our government has taken upon itself a myriad of functions it was never designed to perform and has therefore required large amounts of money. It is not the purpose of this section to debate the legitimate functions of government. Instead we will concern ourselves primarily with the morality and justice of taxing particular areas of human endeavor and for general purpose those taxes are utilized.
Thomas Jefferson stated that “government should not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned.” All governments require money to operate. Obviously, the smaller the government, the less it will require. Consider, however, where the government gets this money. Again, obviously, it taxes its citizens and it is right to do so. Governments are a form of voluntary organization among free people to accomplish ends they are not able to do as individuals. Because these individuals have contracted together in such a fashion, there is the expectation that they will support their creation. However, the people retain the rights they received from their creator under the contract and the government has no right to infringe upon those rights. When it does, we consider it tyrannical.
Back to taxes. An individual should be able to provide for his basic necessities-food, clothing and shelter, without having to pay a fee to the government to be allowed to do so. If I am not free to purchase food without paying a tax, I am a mere servant to a government that will allow me the privilege of eating only if I pay a fee. If I can live on my property only as long as I continue to pay a tax, the property is not mine, I merely rent it from the government. Consider also the exercise of our rights to speech, worship and protection. If the government taxes and regulates these activities they are no longer rights but privileges granted by government that can be limited or revoked at any time.
Let us consider another area of taxation. An individual should be able to contract with another for the free exchange of goods and labor. If I exchange my labor for the goods or the medium of exchange (money) that provide my basic necessities, the government should not tax that exchange. We refer to such taxes as income taxes. But our ability to utilize our labor, physical or intellectual, to provide for our necessities is a fundamental right. If the government requires a fee for our labor, working is now a privilege that can only be exercised as long as the tax is paid. Consider what happens if the tax is not paid. One ends up in prison and the privilege for gainful employment is over. The point of all of this is that the government does not have the right to tax the exercise of our fundamental rights. If it does we are no longer free people and our rights are no longer rights but privileges that are dependent upon the whims of those in power.
There is no question that government at all levels in these United States believes it has the right to tax and regulate our rights to life, liberty, property and even our pursuit of happiness. Let us consider first what most people think of when they hear the word “tax”-income tax. Legally or illegally, government at all levels collects tax on our labor even though that free exchange of labor for goods should not be subject to a tax. Through intimidation and perpetuation of misconception, the government has duped up into willingly complying with its demands. The so called “tax freedom day” is now pushing six months. That means we work for the government six months out of the year. That means that for those six months we gain no benefit from the fruits of our labor, it goes to inept politicians and is consumed by a wasteful bureaucracy whose sole purpose is to find more ways to tax and regulate our lives. In some states the people still believe that the government does not have the right to our labor for free and those people should not be subject to a immoral tax imposed upon them by the national government.
If the income tax is immoral on the grounds it violates our fundamental rights, the Social Security tax is immoral on the same grounds that makes Bernie Madoff one of the most reviled men in America. Here is another area where the national government lies to us and perpetuates misconceptions. The common belief is that we pay into social security and there is a government account with our name on it where those funds are accumulating until we retire. Most people know that there is not actually money in the so called “trust fund”, it is just a bunch of government IOUs because the money really went right into the general fund. The reality is, there was never a trust fund and social security was not set up to be anything more than a pay-as-you-go program. People working today have their money confiscated by the government and it is given to those who are no longer working. Like a ponzi scheme, it works rather well when lots of people are paying in a few are taking money out. However, that time is at an end. Now, instead of a sixteen to one ratio, it will soon be two to one. It is unsustainable and immoral. It is immoral because the government has no right to take my money and give it to someone else for any reason. It is no different that if a thug came and stole my wallet and gave it to a homeless person. The homeless person may need help and I may be inclined to give it but is still thievery if a third party forces me to do so against my will. It is also immoral because it makes people dependent upon a government that will not be able to live up to its promises. When those who are nearing retirement or are recently retired have their benefits cut because there is no longer enough money coming in, they will find themselves in dire straights. It is immoral because it destroys the family unit, taking the responsibility children have for their aging parents and placing it upon the government. It is immoral because it disincentives personal responsibility and creates dependency, which is the enemy of liberty. We should not be forced to be part of a reckless scheme that is bankrupting the country morally and financially, a scheme that puts those in the private sector in jail.
The tax collected for Medicare and Medicaid is immoral on may of thesame grounds and others. It is based on our income, it is “legal” thievery, it destroys personal responsibility and creates dependency. What I would like to focus on with Medicare, however, is the waste, fraud and abuse as well as the fact that the Medicare system itself and government intervention in health care that is destroying the system that is the very best in the world. This is not the place to detail the waste, fraud and abuse in the Medicare system but only to say that everyone acknowledges that it is there and that it is substantial. Even president Obama has stated that there are hundreds of billions of dollars in waste and fraud. It is a fact that government bureaucracies are inefficient and subject to corruption. The larger the bureaucracy, the greater the waste and corruption. Out of all government programs this is probably the worst. On top of that is the fact that the program itself is making health care less affordable to everyone else by driving up costs through government regulation and payout structures. It is incomprehensible to me why we would trust government with the entire health care system when it has made such a mess of it just by inserting itself in the limited way it has. We should not be forced to continue to contribute and participate in a system that is not only wasteful and corrupt but is leading to the destruction of the health care system we rely on for the maintenance of our fundamental right to life. I disagree with those who say that health care is not a right because health care is inseparable from our right to life and happiness. Because it is a right, the government has no more authority to control my access and utilization of it than it does my right to speech, protection or property. My access to health care should depend solely on my ability to trade my labor or property for it or my voluntary cooperation with others to do so and should in no way be regulated or rationed by the government. That the government has done so and is seeking to expand its ability to do so is all the more reason to reject the system and the mindset that encourages politicians to pursue such power.
Allow an other example of legalized thievery. We have seen the immorality of taking money from one individual by force and giving it to another individual. President Obama rightly defines this a “redistribution of wealth” which he considers just and I consider immoral and unjust. This occurs not only on an individual level but on a state level. Money is taken from individuals in one state and used to pay for projects in another. Why should the people of one state pay for a bridge, museum, water park or any other project in another? Consider also the ramifications of all the “pork barrel projects” in the stimulus bill. That bill was paid for with borrowed money so the national government has put debt obligations on the people of one state in order to pay for projects in another. Would it be right to take out a loan in my neighbors name to pay for new landscaping on my friends property? No, we would call that identity theft on a personal level. On a state level, it is just plain theft and we should be under no obligation to continue to subject ourselves to such thievery.
There is the hidden tax of inflation that is a result of our monetary policy but that will be covered in another part of the series. There are the unseen taxes on productivity that result from compliance with all the rules and regulations not only of tax law but all the other government agencies that impose their will upon us. There are a host of other taxes, “nickel and dime” impositions, “sin taxes” and the fictional taxes under “cap and trade” that may be individually evaluated by the aforementioned criteria. Ultimately, there are three main reasons why the tax structure as it exists today in the United States would be grounds for secession. First, it is immoral and tyrannical to impose taxes on the exercise of fundamental, God given rights. Second, the taxes collected are used for purposes not enumerated in the constitutional compact. Finally, those taxes are collected in a manner not consistent with the Constitution, specifically Article I section 8 (1) and section 9 (4) and the Sixteenth amendment does not change these stipulations. Any state which has voluntarily entered into a compact with the others to form a government to protect their liberty and that of their citizens would be well within its rights to secede under the breach of that contract in both law and spirit. Considering that the American Revolution was a tax protest, it would be just and proper for people under a government that has devolved into their previous oppressor to rise up and throw off the chains of bondage once again.
Read A Case for Secession – Introduction by Patrick Samuels
December 2, 2009 at 5:24 pm
[...] Case for Secession -Taxation Posted on December 2, 2009 by Bill Miller This Article by Patrick Samules on SecessionUniversity.com Ultimately, there are three main reasons why the tax structure as it exists today in the United [...]
December 2, 2009 at 5:31 pm
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December 8, 2009 at 10:55 am
On taxation, why are taxes necessary? Why can’t government raise the funds by simply asking for donations from lesser jurisdictions, businesses, or citizens? If the government is local, and the people want good courts, or roads or fire departments, won’t they willingly pay for it out of their bounty? We have never tried this – how do we know it won’t work? I have a suspicion that government would be able to hold a surplus, and get more than enough money to perform it’s lawful duties, and we wouldn’t end up kicking the poor out of their homes because they couldn’t pay property taxes.
December 8, 2009 at 11:33 am
Mark, if crime restitution and dispute reconciliation (courts), crime suppression (police), roads, etc. were voluntarily paid-for (your donations), then the organization providing them would be a business and if another organization could provide them with better quality or at a lower cost, then money voluntarily paid would gravitate to the latter firm. This is the essence of a market-driven system for delivering what are falsely thought to be monopolies of “governments,” AKA political systems. What you have described is the embodiment of a social system organized by the peaceful market instead of the violent political system.
In a basic sense, if I want to help my neighbor and myself through my productivity, I choose the market. If I wish to dominate my neighbor and help myself, I choose the political system. Politics is, as was stated over a century ago by Bastiat, synonymous with theft and the antithesis of production.
As you may be aware, there is a wealth of information on just how such a peaceful, productive system would operate (if we could just give up the mythology that underpins the current one) at places like http://www.mises.org
December 8, 2009 at 12:02 pm
I agree with Mark and David. We do not “all admit the necessity of paying” taxes. I, for one, believe the world would be a much better place without states and their taxes, prohibitions, mandates, regulations, wars, acts of violence and brutality, controls, lies, and various blood-soaked rituals.
I do fully support the idea of secession as a step toward decentralizing political and economic power, but I don’t have any illusion that, for example, an independent state of Michigan wouldn’t establish its own central bank right away.
Ultimately, more people need to reach the conclusion that the problem isn’t this or that particular manifestation of the state, the problem IS the state, that great vampiric enemy of humanity.
December 8, 2009 at 12:09 pm
If you follow Natural Law and property Rights, then the central govt. has a ‘right’ to expect and require tribute(taxes) from extending a privilege to engage in an activity it ‘owns’. It does not have a right to expect tribute from activities that it does not ‘own’. Activities of common occupations in the private sector fall outside of federal privilege and are, therefore, not taxable by the central govt. This is, in fact, what current federal tax law states but which is unknown by most Americans. So, the scam continues and Americans pay tribute(taxes) not required by law to fund govt. activities they do not support. See http://www.losthorizons.com for more.
December 8, 2009 at 12:18 pm
” All governments require taxes to perform their functions “…..
Says THEM! This is the central irony and conceit. THEY say THEY need it. Well, what if I say “I” need it more and THEY can’t have it? That’s when the fallacy of freedom in this nation rears its ugly head.
December 8, 2009 at 1:15 pm
nicely said!
December 8, 2009 at 4:02 pm
http://indiemusicmusings.wordpress.com/
Well put, this was obviously not a whimsical thought, you seem to have it thoroughly thought-out
December 8, 2009 at 4:34 pm
“Governments are a form of voluntary organization among free people to accomplish ends they are not able to do as individuals. Because these individuals have contracted together in such a fashion, there is the expectation that they will support their creation.”
Really? Someone actually BELIEVES such a ludicrous assertion? Such a person must be constantly in pain from the burning of the stupid.
Seriously? Grow up.
I am fully aware of the Public Finance theoretical justifications for taxation – decreasing marginal utility of money, publicness aspects of (some) goods and services… but at the end of the day the State’s role in ameliorating ‘market failure’ is MORE THAN offset by its being the only agency that can conduct wide-scale industrial warfare. AS is also pointed out, the moment you give the tax-eating class access to your pocket, they will increae the rate at which they rape you, finding ever more justification to protect you from the problem of having too much money in your pocket.
“VOLUNTARY”?
Try opting out of your government: if you take ‘personal secession’ to its fullest extent (and refuse to comply with ‘courts’ that issue decrees for you to behave like a good herd member), you wind up dead… because the tax-parasite class sends armed men to shoot you full of holes. Dopes the name Ron ‘Baby-Killer’ Horiuchi ring a bell?
You cannot ‘opt out’ of the fallacious ‘social contract’ – moreover, you and your offspring are bound in perpetuity, with only the tax-eaters being entitled to change the terms of the contract on a whim (e.g., the EPAs decision to decree that CO2 – a necessary for plant life – is a ‘dangerous pollutant’… so that they can regulate it without the requirement for legislation).
Cheerio
GT
http://www.marketmentat.com/marketrant
December 8, 2009 at 10:02 pm
There’s a simple litmus test as to how much any government is overdoing the need for taxation for common services, quite apart from the constitutional validity. A little research showed that Nazi Germany grew to about 36% usage of GDP for war or war preparations before the financing of same become too much, and taking over countries (and typically almost half of their GDP) became the way to go. Now, from web research, guess what is our % of GDP allocated to war, or security, or the financing thereof? About 38% and rising. OK, if in each State, we had an extra 40 cents back for every tax dollar, imagine the infrastructure/services/support we could do! Or, even half of that amount! If we can, somehow, severely restrict the flow of tax dollars to Washington… and the “fractional reserve printing” they apply to it, to multi-leverage our taxes as assets to pay for their games… that would be enormous. We just don’t need Washington that much. Or the war machine, financial bubbles, anything else that consumes for their profit margins.
December 8, 2009 at 10:29 pm
Our civil government has Biblical roots. The concepts are rooted in the founding documents by the ideas of an heirarchy of court systems; lesser magistrates, etc. Taxation was a flat tax and was called a head-tax to support the civil government. The only Biblical and necessary funtion was defense of life and property. Other governments, i.e. family, church, charities (extensions of churches, and businesses(extensions of families) took care of health, education, and welfare. The taxes were based upon ‘increase’ and money was by weight. There were no direct taxes levied on property, as God owns the earth.
December 8, 2009 at 10:35 pm
Who’s coming with me?!
December 9, 2009 at 5:04 am
I’m all for with holding my taxes, but how?
How do we stop feeding the beast?
December 9, 2009 at 9:12 am
“The tax collected for Medicare and Medicaid is immoral on may of thesame grounds and others.”
Patrick, paragraph 6 has 2 editorial errors that you will want to correct. Excellent article, well worth reading and passing on to people! Thank you for writing it!
December 9, 2009 at 11:44 am
Everyone needs to show some COURAGE! I have not filed income taxes for over 20 years and have never been prosecuted. I have to live differently but many of our founding fathers didn’t do what they did for the gain, they did
it for the principle! Attorney Tom Cryer BEAT the IRS so I suggest you go to TruthAttack.org and do some reading. If everyone quits filing that’s a good start. I know it can’t directly stop the insane spending in Washington but it will send a BIG message out.
December 9, 2009 at 11:47 am
Your work is honorable, but:
Until Citizens of Ohio realize the difference between Ohio Citizenship and US citizenship and sever their dual citizenship status, they will always be slaves.
US citizens are the slave property of washington d.c.
The Road to a Peaceful Revolution
People have been lied to their whole lives, starting with their parents (who were lied to), then by government run schools, and finally the government on many levels, specifically on the subject of your Citizenship status. By understanding the TRUTH, how you voluntarily signed up to be a citizen of The District of Columbia (US citizen) without your informed consent. You lost your true Citizenship status as a Free Citizen of one of the 50 countries that make up this Union, to voluntarily accept to be a slave citizen of washington d.c.
By correcting this grave error and restoring your Free Citizen Status, you will restore all of your Constitutional Rights and deprive washington d.c. of a majority of its misplaced power/control over you, without a single shot fired.
Without further ado:
Ponder This
If you were the government, would you provide the keys to freedom or to enslavement?
Somewhere I read, that the supreme court ruled, that it is not the governments job to teach you as a juror your rights and responsibilities, as to judging the law as well as the subject on trial. This would also mean that you are responsible to know your correct Citizen/citizen slave status. The Truth will set you Free. This is YOUR first KEY to FREEDOM, 1 of only 2 keys required. Please read this very carefully, I have read a lot about the freedom movement, and there is one glaring flaw in all of it. You voluntarily give up your God given Sovereign Citizenship status under This Constitution for The united states of America, for a second rate 14th amendment US citizen, slave citizenship of washington d.c. (us citizen/citizen of the united states, first defined in the constitution at that point in time of the 14th amendment) when you register to vote, or sign any government documents.
Can someone prove this as being incorrect, when you sign all government provided forms, voter registration, jury summons, etc. you are voluntarily Swearing under oath, That you live in the District of Columbia, or one of its subdivisions, and want to be treated as a corporate slave with NO Constitutional Rights as a corporate citizen? And also that the Social Security Number is the nexus, that makes you that slave in the corporate matrix? That is why the income tax is legal in washington d.c. and its subdivisions and US citizens are required to pay it. US citizens have no constitutional rights. (look it up you’ll be floored.)
This is the correct Elector Registration Form for a Citizen of one of the 50 Countries of the Union (Not Washington D.C.) the definition of united states has been corrupted by the supreme court which gave it 3 definitions, the definition of state has been corrupted by congress to mean washington d.c. This will return your Citizenship Status back to where it rightfully belongs, before the 14th amendment.
Your County Clerk and Recorder
Street Domicile
Any town, Ohio [zip]
01/01/2008
John Galt
215 Mesa Street
Any town, Ohio [zip]
Elector Registration-notice of changes
Nativity-natural live birth, 01/01/0000 in Anytown, Anycounty, Iowa. Not in a Territory or possession of the United States.
I have lived in Ohio since January of 2008.
I have lived at my present domicile 215 Mesa Street, Anytown, Anycounty, in Ohio, since January of 2008.
I am a Citizen of Ohio and America. I am an Ohioan and an American.
I am a Free Man/Woman.
Party Enrollment – Unaffiliated.
Remove the Social Security Number from the registration card. The Social Security Number is the Property of the Social Security Administration and I DO NOT own it. And therefore it is not mine to give out.
I was not born in the United States. (Washington D.C. – The District of Columbia, Federal areas, Territories, or possessions thereof)
I am not a citizen of the United States (Washington D.C. – The District of Columbia, any Territory or possession of the United States).
I am not a United States person.
I am not a corporate person, corporate citizen, or corporate individual.
I do not currently have a residence nor have I ever resided in the United States. (Washington D.C. – The District of Columbia, Federal areas, Territories, or possessions thereof)
Ohio is not a part of the United States. Federal areas inside Ohio are Territories of and a part of the United States.
I do not live in a Federal area, also known as in the State, or within the State, or a Territory of the United States.
I do not live in a State, or any geographical area that is a part of the United States. (Territories or possessions of Washington D.C. – The District of Columbia.)
Definitions from USCS:
26 USC Sec. 7701 (a)
(9) United States – The term “United States” when used in a geographical sense includes only the States (any Territory or possession of the United States) and the District of Columbia.
(10) State – The term “State” shall be construed to include the District of Columbia, where such construction is necessary to carry out provisions of this title.
(30) United States person. The term ‘United States person’ means-
(A) a citizen or resident of the United States.
(B) a domestic partnership.
(C) a domestic corporation, and
(D) any estate or trust (other than a foreign estate or foreign trust, within the meaning of section 7701(a)(31)).
THE STATES 4 USCS Sec. 110
As used in sections 105-109 of this title-
(d) The term “State” includes any Territory or possession of the United States.
(e) The term “Federal area” means any lands or premises held or acquired by or for the use of the United States or any department, establishment, or agency of the United States; and any Federal area, or any part thereof, which is located within the exterior boundaries of any State, shall be deemed to be a Federal area located within such State. (Inside the outer boundaries of, but not a part of, the 50 countries of the Union)
28 USC Sec. 1746: Unsworn Declarations Under Penalty of Perjury.
(1) If executed without the United States: “I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the united states of America that the foregoing is true and correct.” Executed on (date). (Signature)
(2) If executed within the United States, its territories, possessions, or commonwealths: I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct.” Executed on (date). (Signature)
Since I was not born, and do not live, or work in the United States. (Washington D.C. – The District of Columbia, Federal areas, Territories, or possessions thereof)
I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of Ohio and under the Constitution for The united states of America that the foregoing is true and correct. Executed on 01-01-2008.
All Rights Reserved
Sincerely,
John Galt
PS. On all contracts, Voter/Elector Registration, Drivers License, Mortgage, Marriage License, Employment, Traffic Tickets, Bank Account, Rental, that you put your signature on, first thing to do, is write above where you will sign- All Rights Reserved –this throws the contract that it is written under, the UCC Code -UNIFORM COMMERCIAL CODE, that all CORPORATIONS operate under, back into common law. This will protect your Constitutional Rights. This will move you one-step higher above/over the corporate matrix, and back to being the Master over the corporate matrix, instead of being a slave under the corporate matrix. Then change the Unsworn Declarations Under Penalty of Perjury – statement to signify without the united states.
PPS. I have this on file with the county clerks office and I elect the least offensive lying scumbag that I can. PPPS. It is both funny and irritating at the same time, for it seems that I am not in the county/state corporate government computers, and other odd happenings when dealing with the government.
December 9, 2009 at 2:31 pm
” Starve the monkeys”, which see.
December 12, 2009 at 4:18 pm
“Governments are a form of voluntary organization among free people to accomplish ends they are not able to do as individuals. Because these individuals have contracted together in such a fashion, there is the expectation that they will support their creation.”
This is only true for those people who actually voted “yes” to the formation of any such government at the time it was up for vote. Anyone who voted “no” or abstained at the time cannot be said to have entered it voluntarily. Further, no one presently alive can be said to have entered into any such voluntary contract, since this government was founded more than 200 years ago.
It is reasonable then to assert that the overwhelming majority of Americans (from founding until now) did no such thing as enter into a voluntary contract with our government.
Your article in general is excellent, but this “voluntary contract” idea is truly most absurd.
All taxes are theft, they are all transfers from one person to another and they are all immoral. The very root of government is impermissible. Therefore, government itself is impermissible.
December 15, 2009 at 4:32 pm
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