There are many talking heads that are trying to figure out the exact cause of the current economic woes we all face. They all have highly complicated explanations, quite beyond the understanding of mere mortals. In a recent discussion with my brother, I laid out a very simple explanation for the causes of our economic woes. If you don’t agree with my assessment, please feel free to comment as to why.
The reason for our current economic woes is simple. Too much government. As simple as that. Too many people look to government for their support. If people knew they had no government subsidies waiting to bail them out of their stupid consumption habits, consumption would never have gotten out of control. And if people were educated on financial matters, instead of social studies, they would know how to avoid stupid consumer debt traps. Simple. Get the government out of the markets, really. Let people freely interact. The government’s only legitimate role should be to prevent criminals from stealing my life, liberty, and property so that I can continue to freely interact. Unfortunately it is the government now which is stealing the American dream of life, liberty, and property; an out-of-control beast that is devouring our liberties at an unprecedented rate.
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Over the past several months I’ve been looking at the proposed “Fair Tax” that’s being promoted around the country. It has some intriguing aspects, and I was immediately interested in how it could better serve individual Americans. In a recent chat conversation I had with my brother, I explained to him what it is. A transcript of our chat is as follows:
Free Troll: Did I tell you about http://www.fairtax.org?
Troll’s Brother: I think you did.
Free Troll: I think it’s gaining steam, slowly.
Troll’s Brother: so what is it in thirty seconds?
Free Troll: A national sales tax at 23%, repeal of the 16th amendment so Congress couldn’t pull a fast one and impose the national sales tax PLUS retain income taxes, elimination of the IRS and tax filing, and it takes care of the poor by effectively exempting them from taxes up to the poverty level.
So, if you don’t want to pay taxes, just don’t but new stuff. Tax only would apply to services and new product purchases.
Can you imagine how much wealth could be built if you didn’t have payroll taxes and April 15th?
Troll’s Brother: What would all the cpa’s do?
Free Troll: Do what CPAs are supposed to. Help companies manage money, not pay taxes.
Troll’s Brother: ahh. Do you ever have the opinion that things have to get bad before they can get better?
Free Troll: That’s because people generally are so caught up in trying to do things for themselves in the moment, they don’t have time to spend thinking about who is trying to take their freedom away.
So, why do I support the Fair Tax? Simply because it is so simple, it brings sanity and equity back to American taxation, and because the current tax system is one of ridiculous complexity and corruption. According to the Tax Foundation, Americans are estimated to have spent $265 billion in 2005 just to comply with paying their taxes. Imagine what Americans could do if that money were spent on productive activities.
This is just a very brief overview of the Fair Tax. For more information see their website at www.freetax.org. And thank you to my brother for his permission to publish our little chat. You can read his blog at www.minorsoft.com.
