Beer and Shoes

The question: If you didn't have to pay taxes, would you give the extra to some sort of charity? Maybe just a little?

The answer: No you wouldn't. Hell no.

But, I don't mean a bit of minor tax relief, I mean no taxes; sales tax, income tax, social security, inflation tax, hidden taxes. You would bring home DOUBLE your salary over all. That's a lot. Come on, are you sure you wouldn't give just a little more? Maybe drop an extra penny in the jar.

no, No, NO you wouldn't! And you know it! Nobody would!

It's okay, you are not a cruel monster. On the contrary. You are a liberated citizen now keenly aware of your true worth. Damn, you earn quite a haul, don't you. Naturally, you value that money you have earned and can spend it however you wish. This is your very your standard of living, your children's future, your freedom, a ticket to possible happiness, your 15 gallon stainless steel pressure-sealed conical fermenter.

But, no, you don't get those things. Sorry. You can't keep half the money you earn. Let's take a closer look at what that money really is...

When the shoemaker offers the brewer a pair of shoes in exchange for a pony keg, the keg might be worth more than the shoes. So, to make up for the difference, the shoemaker needs to offer something else - something that is generally accepted, durable, and of stable value. Gold, currency, a foot massage, whatever the brewer accepts. Taxes are basically a redistribution of a portion of the transaction (beer and shoes) in order to protect everyone's right to engage in voluntary exchange of beer and shoes, to resolve disputes if the beer sucks, and to fight the guys trying to steal the beer and shoes. These things now take such a large portion of beer and shoes that everyone is hopping around with one shoe almost sober.

Why? Because we spend our own money more wisely than other people's.

It all comes down to...Who's money is more important? Yours, or someone else's? Many don't think their tax money is important because they already assume it is someone else's before they even see it. People's own worth has been stripped from their fingers without them even knowing. It's enough to make me damn depressed.

So, back to our fantasy...what to do with all that extra coin? Maybe you'll go scarf some sushi, buy better golf clubs, live in a new house, send your kid to private school with smaller class sizes, take the faster toll roads (if you live at the fringes), and maybe get better medical insurance.

You would probably buy some stocks. If you were a small business you would have to hire more people and raise your salaries to keep competitive. Work would be available to anyone who wanted it. Unemployment would be virtually zero.

But wait...what about all the folks on welfare? What would happen to them? Yes, they would suddenly be deprived of all their income. They would need to appeal to charity. Yes, that's right, anyone who couldn't make ends meet would have to take the hit to their pride and find a benevolent individual or organization caring enough to help them.

Oh, you don't believe we could actually care for the needy? Everyone who works would be twice as rich, and some people just get this thrill out of helping others indiscriminately (not really my thing, but they're out there). Most importantly, individuals would have a greater opportunity to succeed without the need for charity. But that's not really the point.

The point is, when government has cornered the market on virtue, we experience a net loss of it.

It's also futile from a practical perspective. People have an easier time stealing from government than they do from individuals (corporations and dead beats), and even the well intentioned politicians aren't capable of dealing properly with the economy (as we see now regarding the catch 22 at the Fed).

Oh man this had gotten boring. Such discussions require good beer and company or they are pretty dead in the water, but kudos if you made it to the bitter end.