How legal violence, in the form of taxes, leads to moral and social anarchy

The democratic government is no different than an autocratic or a colonial government. Revenue generation by way of taxes is one factor that makes these governments the same.

Will anybody argue that the kings and colonial governments imposed taxes on people for the benefit of the people? Democratic governments use the same exploitative way to collect money to spend for public welfare. They threaten people of imprisonment if they don't pay tax.

Why do the governments use threat to collect tax? Is it because they could not find a better way which does not use imprisonment as a threat to collect money from common people? or Is it because the democratic governments too do not trust the common people to give their cooperation to the government to work for public welfare? or Is it because the people who run the democratic governments know that common people are aware of the way they actually use the public money for their own private purposes and so try not to pay them anything?

Whatever the reason, the democratic governments continue to use an evil method to ensure social cooperation.

It is obvious that the autocratic and colonial governments imposed taxes for two reasons.

 One reason is that they wanted people to work for them for free. The kings and the Queens threatened people that if they do not pay one fourth of their income to them, they would send their soldiers and punish them or kill them. So, they used violence and threat of violence to make common people to work for them. This custom of paying money to the rulers became a habit which most people did not even think of opposing, unless it became unbearable. So, taxes became acceptable in normal times.

 The second reason is that the rulers, especially the colonial governments, wanted people to use the money issued by them as a medium of exchange. The people did not need any money to cooperate among themselves. When they needed money they used, wood or shells or any other item as money. The rulers wanted the common people to use the coins issued by them as money. They wanted this because the people would do whatever the rulers said to get the coins and the rulers just had to mint or make coins and the whole country would work for them to get these coins.Once people accepted their coins as a medium of exchange, the rulers needed to ensure only one thing to keep people working for them- they only needed to ensure tax collection. Because if they stopped tax collection, the people would not work for the government issued money and slowly the money issued by the government would stop being the medium of exchange. This will free the people and the people will no longer work for the rulers and the rulers will again have to use shameless violence and open threat to make people work for them. Imposing tax was the easy and safe way to ensure obedience from the ignorant and innocent people.

The imposition of taxes on people gives too much power in the hands of the government. The government can decide to collect higher taxes or lower taxes from certain sections of people and influence how people live.

This power of taxation has wreaked havoc in the society. It has not only torn the social fabric but has also deprived the people of any moral anchor. Now, we all see what is happening in our society- the corruption, helplessness, poverty, crime, moral degradation- The way taxes are collected has a lot to do with this state of affairs.

Every kind and free individual should strive to find a way in which we can ensure the cooperation of the people in a democratic way, without the threat of imprisonment. That definitely needs grassroots activism, because democracy can not be imposed from above, it has to come from below. Decentralisation of political power in the form of panchayati raj can be a solution.

If you too are ready to work at the grassroot level, then let us work together. let us, work fast- life is getting unbearable.