Taxation as slavery

Last updated
Egyptian peasants seized for non-payment of taxes during the Pyramid Age. Wells egyptian peasants taxes.jpg
Egyptian peasants seized for non-payment of taxes during the Pyramid Age.

Taxation as slavery is the idea that taxation results in an unfree society in which individuals are forced to work to enrich the government and the recipients of largesse, rather than for their own benefit.

Contents

History

Historically, the earliest and most widespread form of taxation was the corvee, which can be traced back to the beginning of civilization. The corvee was state-imposed forced labor on peasants too poor to pay other forms of taxation (labor in ancient Egyptian is a synonym for taxes). [1]

Most people accept that slavery was a part of life in places like ancient Egypt, the Mediterranean, ancient Rome, and Greece etc, but most people don't realize that the slaves got to keep a large amount of their own money or wealth. For example in some of the very first records of taxation and slavery from over 5000 years, we see evidence that Egyptian Pharaohs only collected 20% tax on grain harvests, [2] and yet the subjects were considered slaves at this high level of taxation, as is recorded in the book of Genesis 41:34-36

"Let Pharaoh appoint commissioners over the land to take a fifth of the harvest of Egypt during the seven years of abundance. They should collect all the food of these good years that are coming and store up the grain under the authority of Pharaoh, to be kept in the cities for food." [3]

In her book, American Patriots, journalist Gail Buckley wrote, "In British eyes, the American colonies existed only for the benefit of the mother country, but Americans saw any form of taxation as slavery." [4] Anarcho-capitalists and other right-libertarians are some of the foremost proponents of the argument that taxation is equivalent to slavery.[ citation needed ] The International Society for Individual Liberty has made this claim, [5] as has Bureaucrash, [6] which refers to Social Security as "social slavery." [7]

George Mason University professor Thomas Rustici uses two hypothetical anecdotes to illustrate his point of view:

In the first, Sam Slime mugs a person for £50. In the second, Sam Slime votes for a politician who taxes a person in order to redistribute £50 to the "disadvantaged" Slime. Both examples involve the use of force. However, the second scenario is arguably worse, since through the state, Slime is now empowered to repeatedly take others' money, thus putting them in a condition of slavery." [8]

Leo Tolstoy argued that taxation of labor is one of three stages of slavery (the other two being land slavery and personal slavery). [9]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ancient Egypt</span> Northeastern African civilization

Ancient Egypt was a civilization of ancient Northeast Africa. It was concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River, situated in the place that is now the country Egypt. Ancient Egyptian civilization followed prehistoric Egypt and coalesced around 3100 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under Menes. The history of ancient Egypt unfolded as a series of stable kingdoms interspersed by periods of relative instability known as “Intermediate Periods.” The various kingdoms fall into one of three categories: the Old Kingdom of the Early Bronze Age, the Middle Kingdom of the Middle Bronze Age, or the New Kingdom of the Late Bronze Age.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Serfdom</span> Status of peasants under feudalism

Serfdom was the status of many peasants under feudalism, specifically relating to manorialism, and similar systems. It was a condition of debt bondage and indentured servitude with similarities to and differences from slavery. It developed during the Late Antiquity and Early Middle Ages in Europe and lasted in some countries until the mid-19th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joseph (Genesis)</span> Biblical figure and son of Jacob and Rachel

Joseph is an important Hebrew figure in the Bible's Book of Genesis and in the Quran. He was the first of the two sons of Jacob and Rachel. He is the founder of the Israelite Tribe of Joseph. His story functions as an explanation for Israel's residence in Egypt. He is the favourite son of the patriarch Jacob, and his jealous brothers sell him into slavery in Egypt, where he eventually ends up incarcerated. After correctly interpreting the dreams of Pharaoh, however, he rises to second-in-command in Egypt and saves Egypt during a famine. Jacob's family travels to Egypt to escape the famine, and it is through him that they are given leave to settle in the Land of Goshen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Georgism</span> Economic philosophy centred on common ownership of land

Georgism, also called in modern times Geoism, and known historically as the single tax movement, is an economic ideology holding that people should own the value that they produce themselves, while the economic rent derived from land—including from all natural resources, the commons, and urban locations—should belong equally to all members of society. Developed from the writings of American economist and social reformer Henry George, the Georgist paradigm seeks solutions to social and ecological problems, based on principles of land rights and public finance that attempt to integrate economic efficiency with social justice.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Corvée</span> Form of intermittent, unpaid, unfree labour

Corvée is a form of unpaid forced labour that is intermittent in nature, lasting for limited periods of time, typically only a certain number of days' work each year. Statute labour is a corvée imposed by a state for the purposes of public works. As such it represents a form of levy (taxation). Unlike other forms of levy, such as a tithe, a corvée does not require the population to have land, crops or cash.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Serfdom in Russia</span> Unfree peasant class of Tsarist Russia

The term serf, in the sense of an unfree peasant of tsarist Russia, meant an unfree person who, unlike a slave, historically could be sold only together with the land to which they were "attached". However, this stopped being a requirement by the 19th century, and serfs were practically indistinguishable from slaves. Contemporary legal documents, such as Russkaya Pravda, distinguished several degrees of feudal dependency of peasants. While another form of slavery in Russia, kholopstvo, was ended by Peter I in 1723, the serfdom was abolished only by Alexander II's emancipation reform of 1861; nevertheless, in times past, the state allowed peasants to sue for release from serfdom under certain conditions, and also took measures against abuses of landlord power.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tax resistance</span> Refusal to pay a tax in opposition to a government or policy, rather than taxation itself

Tax resistance is the refusal to pay tax because of opposition to the government that is imposing the tax, or to government policy, or as opposition to taxation in itself. Tax resistance is a form of direct action and, if in violation of the tax regulations, also a form of civil disobedience.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Slavery in antiquity</span> Slavery in the ancient world

Slavery in the ancient world, from the earliest known recorded evidence in Sumer to the pre-medieval Antiquity Mediterranean cultures, comprised a mixture of debt-slavery, slavery as a punishment for crime, and the enslavement of prisoners of war.

Slavery in medieval Europe was widespread. Europe and North Africa were part of a highly interconnected trade network across the Mediterranean Sea, and this included slave trading. During the medieval period (500–1500), wartime captives were commonly forced into slavery. As European kingdoms transitioned to feudal societies, a different legal category of unfree persons -- serfdom -- began to replace slavery as the main economic and agricultural engine. Throughout medieval Europe, the perspectives and societal roles of enslaved peoples differed greatly, from some being restricted to agricultural labor to others being positioned as trusted political advisors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Curse of Ham</span> Biblical curse imposed on Canaan

In the Book of Genesis, the curse of Ham is described as a curse which was imposed upon Ham's son Canaan by the patriarch Noah. It occurs in the context of Noah's drunkenness and it is provoked by a shameful act that was perpetrated by Noah's son Ham, who "saw the nakedness of his father". The exact nature of Ham's transgression and the reason Noah cursed Canaan when Ham had sinned have been debated for over 2,000 years.

In the late Roman Empire and the Early Middle Ages a colonus was a tenant farmer. Known collectively as the colonate, these farmers operated as sharecroppers, paying landowners with a portion of their crops in exchange for use of their farmlands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Economy of ancient Greece</span>

The economy of ancient Greece was defined largely by the region's dependence on imported goods. As a result of the poor quality of Greece's soil, agricultural trade was of particular importance. The impact of limited crop production was somewhat offset by Greece's paramount location, as its position in the Mediterranean gave its provinces control over some of Egypt's most crucial seaports and trade routes. Beginning in the 6th century BC, trade craftsmanship and commerce, principally maritime, became pivotal aspects of Greek economic output.

Nobi were members of the slave class during the Korean dynasties of Goryeo and Joseon. Legally, they held the lowest rank in medieval Korean society. Like the slaves, serfs, and indentured servants of the Western Hemisphere, nobi were considered property or chattel, and could be bought, sold, or gifted.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Social class in Tibet</span>

There were three main feudal social groups in Tibet prior to 1959, namely ordinary laypeople, lay nobility, and monks. The ordinary layperson could be further classified as a peasant farmer (shing-pa) or nomadic pastoralist (trokpa). to influence politics and religious domination, entering into monkhood and military was required.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Georgian feudalism</span>

Georgian feudalism, or patronkmoba, as the system of personal dependence or vassalage in ancient and medieval Georgia is referred to, arose from a tribal-dynastic organization of society upon which was imposed, by royal authority, an official hierarchy of regional governors, local officials and subordinates. It is thought to have its roots into the ancient Georgian, or Iberian, society of Hellenistic period.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Slavery in Bhutan</span> History of slavery in Bhutan until its abolition in 1958

Slavery in Bhutan was a common legal, economic, and social institution until its abolition in 1958. In historical records, unfree labourers in Bhutan were referred to as slaves, coolies, and serfs. These labourers originated mostly in and around Bhutan, Assam, and Sikkim, and were the backbone of Bhutan's pre-money feudal economy.

Serfdom has a long history that dates to ancient times.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Slavery in ancient Egypt</span> Overview of slavery practices in ancient Egypt

Slavery in ancient Egypt existed at least since the Old Kingdom period. Discussions of slavery in Pharaonic Egypt are complicated by terminology used by the Egyptians to refer to different classes of servitude over the course of dynastic history. Interpretation of the textual evidence of classes of slaves in ancient Egypt has been difficult to differentiate by word usage alone. There were three types of enslavement in Ancient Egypt: chattel slavery, bonded labor, and forced labor. Even these seemingly well-differentiated types of slavery are susceptible to individual interpretation. Egypt's labor culture encompassed many people of various social ranks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wilbour Papyrus</span>

The Wilbour Papyrus, named after the New York journalist who acquired it, Charles Edwin Wilbour, is the largest known non-funerary papyrus from Ancient Egypt. It is an administrative document which contains a survey of cultivatable lands in the late Ramesside Period of the New Kingdom of Egypt. The papyrus is 10 meters long and divided into two sections, text A and text B. Text A contains an extensive account of lands both privately and collectively owned. Text B is much shorter and contains an account of exclusively royal lands. The Wilbour Papyrus is a rare case of a well preserved look into the economic administration of Ancient Egypt. Egyptologists have been able to use it to produce a more complete analysis of the function of the Ancient Egyptian state.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Biblical Egypt</span> Ancient Egypt as it is portrayed in the Bible

Biblical Egypt, or Mizraim, is a theological term used by historians and scholars to differentiate between Ancient Egypt as it is portrayed in Judeo-Christian texts and what is known about the region based on archaeological evidence. Along with Canaan, Egypt is one of the most commonly mentioned locations in the Bible, and its people, the Egyptians, play important roles in the story of the Israelites. Although interaction between Egypt and nearby Semitic-speaking peoples is attested in archaeological sources, they do not otherwise corroborate the biblical account.

References

  1. David F. Burg (2004). A World History of Tax Rebellions. pp. vi–viii. ISBN   9780203500897.
  2. History of Taxes. Tax Foundation.org.
  3. Book of Genesis 41:34-36. Holy Bible.
  4. Buckley, Gail (May 14, 2002). American Patriots: The Story of Blacks in the Military From the Revolution to Desert Storm. Random House. p. 3.
  5. "ISIL -- End Tax Slavery Now". Archived from the original on 2008-05-09. Retrieved 2008-07-29.
  6. "Tax Slavery Sucks | Bureaucrash". www.bureaucrash.com. Archived from the original on 30 August 2008. Retrieved 13 January 2022.
  7. "Social Slavery | Bureaucrash". Archived from the original on 2008-06-29. Retrieved 2008-07-29.
  8. Dr. Thomas Carl Rustici. "George Mason University Economics and Public Policy Problems Economics 309" (PDF).
  9. "Leo Tolstoy / On the Land Question and Slavery -- 1909". Archived from the original on 2014-03-05. Retrieved 2013-09-30.