Samizdata

Dale Amon has pointed out the interesting anti-tax We the People movement in the USA who are arguing against US taxes on arcane constitutional grounds. I have to say that whilst I certainly do wish them well, such arguments leave me cold.

The illegitimacy of most taxation springs from the illegitimacy of much of what states do, so arguing such matters on legalistic grounds actually legitimises the fact that the problem is one of incorrect laws rather than a fundamentally incorrect structure of the state. The nature of the illegitimacy of much taxation in the USA comes from its underlying immorality and immorality has nothing to do with constitutionality.

We the People are fighting their battle on grounds that concede from the outset wide areas of legitimacy to the state to tax provided the appropriate legal gymnastics are carried out first. I see what they are doing as useful in so far as it perhaps plants a seed of doubt in the minds of some as to the morality of the state to tax at all in the manner it does. They will of course lose the legal argument but perhaps to an incrementalist like me that is probably just as well: taxation is not wrong because this or that part of the constitution says so (or does not say so)… it is wrong because it is an immoral confiscation of several property for illegitimate uses. It is not a matter of law but rather a matter of objectively derived right and wrong.