A Government Without Taxes

Americans are led to believe that taxes are necessary for the day-to-day running of the U.S. government. They are told that anarchy would ensue in the absence of a leviathan. Lets examine this: Right now, law enforcement officers arrest tax evaders for not paying their own salaries. If you fired all law enforcement officers, there would be no need for taxation and thus, no tax evaders to arrest. Problem solved. However, some members of society would stand up and say, "I don't feel safe without law enforcement officers, military, etc..." Let them pool their money together and hire private security officers. If the private security officers don't like their salaries, let them unionize and collectively bargain with representatives of the pool. I am a pacifist and would exercise my right not to contribute to the Law Enforcement and Corrections pool. We could have many such pools going. We could have a Medicare pool, a Legal pool, a Government pool, an Education pool, a Welfare pool, a Roads and Infrastructure pool, a NASA pool, a Parks and Recreation Pool, a Disaster Relief Pool, a Foreign Aid pool, an Economic Development pool, and so on. No one would be legally required to contribute to any pool. People would be free to contribute however much the want to whichever pool they want. I suspect that many people would pay more to their pool of interest than they currently now pay in taxes. Many others, I'm sure, would pay less than they currently pay or nothing at all. Each pool could maintain a registry of its members and pool accountants could calculate a suggested annual donation amount based on the projected needs of the pool. I would imagine that fundraising would be near the top of every group's agenda. This system of governmental funding could be phased in over time to prevent a disruption in services. Officials could be elected to oversee and make policy decisions for any given pool. For instance, members of the Education pool could vote on whether to teach Creationism or implement school uniforms. Members of the NASA pool could decide on whether to build a moon base or search for extraterrestrial life. All pools would be authorized and coordinated by the Government pool in Washington D.C. Also, the Government pool would oversee National Defense, Foreign Policy, and the Banking system. Representatives from each pool would issue periodic reports to the Government and If the Government mandated the Roads and Infrastructure pool to build a "bridge to nowhere", it would be the Government's responsibility to fund that mandate. Only registered members of the Government pool would have the right to elect the President. Members of a group are not required to contribute the suggested annual donation amount or any amount as a requirement to elect the group's officials. The only criticism I can think of that some may make about my theory of government, is that in a time of national emergency, the government would be financially crippled by its inability to enforce a tax code. However, I believe that if the threat were REAL, citizens would have no problem rallying around a president and supporting the government financially. Also, if the government were unable to meet its financial needs during a protracted national emergency, it could borrow money from the World Bank, our allies, or even its own citizens. The debate on whether to tax income or consumption is like asking whether you prefer to change the kitty litter in the morning or the evening. (No offense to Mittens). Nevertheless, I wouldn't go so far as to say that taxation is akin to extortion. If the branch of government responsible for levying taxes was the same as the branch of government responsible for prosecuting tax evaders, it would be. This is the case in countries operating under the parliamentary system, but not in the U.S. Also, don't forget that the first Gospel was written by a tax collector. Now is the time for our nation to reevaluate its tax code. Changes in technology have opened a door for radical new approaches to government funding. The prophet who penned the book of Daniel encourages us that it is possible to reform (or remove) the tax code through peaceful means: Daniel 11:20
Then shall stand up in his estate a raiser of taxes in the glory of the kingdom: but within few days he shall be destroyed, neither in anger, nor in battle. Stephen Lindo

Would I be permitted to compete in any of these ares if I so wished? If so, it is not a government in the sense I use the term. It sounds like a large non-profit or a DRO.

Taxes aren't a cheque sent in an enveloppe. Taxes are any form of unilateral declaration of acquisition of someone else's property. For example, when the government declares that income taxes are going up from 20% to 25%, the government is taxing a property right to 5% of your labor. When the retirement age for social security is raised, the government is taxing retirement income. When dollars were declared inconvertible to gold, the government taxed everyone's gold. When the government declares a new regulation limiting business, there are fewer ways in which private property can be enjoyed; some property rights have been taxed.

If the government unilateraly declares that it will be henceforth funded through pools, that is still a form of taxation. The power to legislate is by definition taxation.