jay1051971's Full Review: Sheldon Richman - Your Money or Your Life: Why We ...
Of the many different forms of taxation, the income tax is undoubtedly the most immoral of them all. The idea that it should be the politicians who have the first claim over the fruits of the very activity people engage in to provide life’s necessities for themselves is impossible to reconcile with any notion of individual liberty. In his aptly titled book, Your Money Or Your Life – Why We Must Abolish The Income Tax, author Sheldon Richman examines the idea of income taxation, and presents a firm case in favor of its abolition.
Contents:
Acknowledgements
Preface by Jacob G. Hornberger
Foreword by Walter E. Williams
Introduction by Richard M. Ebeling
Chapter 1: The Permanent War
Chapter 2: The Immorality of the Income Tax
Chapter 3: Who’s The Master? Who’s The Servant?
Chapter 4: The Income Tax makes You Poorer
Chapter 5: How We Got The Income Tax
Chapter 6: Let’s Abolish The Income Tax
Afterword
About The Author
About the Publisher
Breakdown:
As the distinguished economist Dr. Walter Williams states in the open sentence of the foreword, “Your Money or Your Life sounds like a threat from a highwayman, but it is not; it is the perennial threat offer, through its Internal Revenue Service agents, by the United States Congress.” Now, you may think that such a statement is overblown and exaggerated. Even the title and cover of this book (a drawing of a man pointing a gun in a menacing fashion and holding an IRS badge) seem a bit over the top. Reading this book however, one gets the sense that these are mere understatements. One will see exactly how the taxation of income has hi-jacked the notion of individual liberty, and turned our government into an enemy of it’s own people.
Before the books starts, commentaries by such notables as Future of Freedom Foundation President and Vice President, Jacob G. Hornberger and Richard Ebeling, and the previously mentioned Williams are included and do a marvelous job whetting the appetite of the reader. Hornberger’s preface is a quick historical note contrasting the founding of the nation and the 19th century, when the US was (with the sorry exception of chattel slavery) the freest nation in the history of mankind, with a constitutionally limited government; and the 20th century, which saw the adoption of the income tax, the rise of the socialistic welfare-warfare state, and the virtual destruction of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Williams discusses statements of such Founding Fathers as Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and Thomas Paine, on their views of government, and the necessity of severely restricting its scope and power in order to preserve individual liberty, all of which income taxation endangers. Ebeling takes a slightly different approach, discussing the philosophy and virtues of the free-market system, in contrast to the government-backed caste and class economic systems that dominated the history of mankind. This philosophical turn completes a trilogy of fertile pro-liberty commentary leading into the heart of the book, and after reading each one, I was left wondering, “what more can possibly be said?”
Well, to be sure, Richman doesn’t disappoint. His writing style is very plain, and easy to understand. In about 100 pages, he presents the subject matter in a very well organized format, and provides references to all original source material. He lays the foundation for the rest of the book in the first chapter by discussing how the IRS has abused, terrorized, and destroyed the lives of American citizens. One section, he discusses how, during the Cold War, one of the top priorities of the IRS was to figure out how to collect taxes after 100 million Americans were killed in nuclear holocaust, and society was destroyed (how noble!). He also lays out the idea that income taxation creates a permanent battle of Man Vs. State – the conflict between the people, who want to work and acquire the things in life that they want and need, and the State, which wants as much of those resources as it can get. Although this eternal conflict may at times be less painful than others, it is always there.
The second chapter finds Richman challenging the income tax on moral grounds. He poses the question, “By what right does the government take a portion of each person’s income without his consent before he even has a chance to get his hands on it?” The income tax effectively nationalizes wealth, allowing the government to have the first claim over the use of private property. With income taxation, individuals are no longer in control of their life’s circumstances, but are now dependent on an outside source for their existence. As Richman states, “To live, human beings must produce, which means, among other things, acquire property. The right to pursue one’s life without the right to acquire and control property is an absurdity…. All rights can be reduced to property rights, beginning with the property right in one’s own body and person.” In short, the income tax abolishes the concept of private property.
He further questions the morality of income taxation on ideological grounds. Richman poses, and then tries to answer the question, “Why Tax Income?” He explores the ideas of Karl Marx, author of the Communist Manifesto, and the man who’s philosophy was used to justify the deaths of over 100 million people at the hands of their own governments during the 20th century. As one of the planks of the Communist Manifesto, Marx states in order to bring about a Communist society, there must be a heavily progressive income tax system. Marx’s view that the government should be used as a tool to wage class warfare, and exploiting human envy and greed, is behind the income tax.
The third chapter is devoted to discussing how the income tax has inverted the relationship between the government and the people. Despite having a democratically elected government, one is hard pressed to find how the state of taxation we face today came about by the consent of the people. Richman explains how the tax code has evolved over the years, becoming more and more complex. Taxing of incomes also allows the government to have the ability to find out loads of information about its citizens, and using that information to use the tax code to manipulate, or even outright intimidate, the citizens into obeying its rules. It has also been a fundamental tool in establishing the government as a wealth transfer organization, by which the politically influential can plunder those less organized. The income tax has also enabled the IRS to acquire, and employ enforcement methods that would make any police-state dictator of old salivate. Instead of the people being the masters, and the government the servant, it is the other way around.
The next chapter, “The Income Tax makes You Poorer”, takes a different approach, by laying out persuasive arguments why we would be better off in the absence of an income tax. First, explains Richman, is the market process. Every dollar that is diverted by the income tax towards priorities established by politicians, is one less dollar that can be spent in the pursuit of the goods and services that are actually desired by society as a whole. As a result, living standards are lowered. Also, there are major disincentives in an income tax system against obtaining any modicum of financial independence, such as the creation of small businesses. Large corporations can afford massive accounting and legal staffs to stay on top of the code, but the rest of us do not. As a result, many of us, who would otherwise love to go into business for ourselves, are forced into a life of working in corporate hell.
In Chapter 5, Richman explores how the income tax came to be. There had been a few attempts by the federal government to levy taxation on individuals, starting with Abe Lincoln’s tax to finance the civil war. Often, the Supreme Court struck down these taxes as unconstitutional. It wasn’t until the ratification of the 16th amendment in 1913 that income tax became a permanent part of our political landscape. The last chapter has Richman making an appeal to end income taxation. He lays out many arguments for its repeal, and dissects some of the pitfalls that tax “reformers” use when advocating change.
Overall, this book was very upsetting. As most of you know, I am a Libertarian, and the idea of anyone other than me controlling my life irks me to no end. Reading this book was quite a troubling ordeal for me. At times, I literally became so outraged, I almost destroyed this book with my bare hands. Yes, the IRS is a despotic organization, but it is the notion that the government should have the power to tax incomes that makes for such brutality. Richman has very eloquently presented a case for the repeal of the income tax. He has shown how corrupt and morally untenable income taxation is. I would urge everyone to read this book. A word of warning, however…If you are like me, and offended by injustice and oppression, you may want to skip it strictly for the sake of your own health.
This is my late filing for the Income Tax Write-Off, hosted by Arthur.Rubin. See below for other participants….
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