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Wow, what a read. There are two certainties in this life: death and taxes. Some people try to unsuccessfully avoid one or both :)


Well income tax was magically mandated without any sort of discussion so there's that. In the end the question is a question of hard power. If you have none, you are in no position to bargain. IMO giving government taxes that are used for purposes that may not agree with your personal sense of responsibility and morality may itself be immoral, for instance if the government uses your taxes to start wars you want nothing to do with. For infrastructure and education though they are fine regardless. They are always tooting the horns of voting with your dollars, in this case where is the voice of voting with your dollars as to what gets done with your money. /rant.


> Well income tax was magically mandated without any sort of discussion so there's that.

The nation literally passed a constitutional amendment specifically to allow direct, unapportioned income tax.


There's a wonderful old sitcom called "The Goode Life" where one of the characters walks in to the council offices to pay her council tax and proceeds to itemize and declare which services she is unwilling to pay for as they were unsatisfactory...


That seems redundant when you can vote with your... vote.

(Also: the sixteenth amendment?)


When you vote, you are not voting for anything or anyone substantial. Party A and Party B have the exact same policies with simply different political tones and groups of elites that they support.

The 16th amendment was adopted on February 3, 1913. Good to read its history: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sixteenth_Amendment_to_the_Uni... and how controversy still stands despite a century of litigation.


> The 16th amendment was adopted on February 3, 1913.

Yes. 4 years after congress passed the amendment, it was ratified by the 36th state and adopted. In no way was this "magically mandated without any sort of discussion".


But you can also vote in primaries where there's a wider array of candidates. Plus many elections have ballot measures enabling you to vote for or against specific items.

You're just unwilling to admit that your views aren't broadly popular.


>>Party A and Party B have the exact same policies

No they don't.




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