Advocating Voluntaryism: An Email

Yesterday, I had a discussion with some colleagues during a break at the office.  The conversation involved the meteoric rise of Bitcoin in the recent weeks.  Eventually and inevitably, the discussion came to the point of taxation and regulation.  The point of contention eventually became whether or not the tax code was voluntary, and what that meant.

In response to that discussion, one of the people party to the discussion sent me some links that claimed that the tax code was not voluntary, including the infamous THE TRUTH ABOUT FRIVOLOUS TAX ARGUMENTS published by the IRS, A Wikipedia article on Tax Protester Statutory Arguments, and a page entitled Income Tax Myths published by Jonathan R. Siegel, Professor of Law at George Washington University. This page is part of a larger site that Mr. Siegel maintains that advocates the position that the tax code is mandatory.

Of course, knowing that involuntary servitude is slavery and being familiar with the basic principles of the non aggression principle and the consequences, thereof, I had to respond to this in a way that I hoped would communicate the meat and potatoes of the issue clearly and briefly while piquing curiosity enough to inspire action that might lead to a positive lasting change that will impact our culture.

Here is my response:

Men write words on a piece of paper and get some of their friends together and agree to make it law, but we are not, have never been, and never will be party to those agreements unless we choose to be, within our own minds.

Consider any of the 9:59 videos found HERE
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=im+allowed+to+rob+you&sm=3

I am not arguing what the system claims.  Anyone can make any claim they so choose.  What I AM doing is advocating a different way at looking at these things.  It’s about a change of the culture.  It’s happening all around, all you have to do is look.

In this particular case, if you step back and realize how preposterous the ‘right to tax’ is, you may begin to understand the virtues of living in a truly voluntary society where all people have the same rights as all other people.

A voluntary society is one where there are no exempt classes and all people have the same rights which are not lienable.  No person can claim rights that any other person may not have.  This includes claims of authority (monopoly of force).  Currently, we have political and upper classes that are in effect immune to the laws that we are all subjected to, by their will.

In another matter, regarding law, in a voluntary society, there would be no laws of prohibition of any act where there is no actual victim.  And in crimes where there is a victim, the focus would be on restitution not imprisonment.  This could take many forms, some of which could be mutually agreeable voluntary servitude to the victim, or mutually agreeable financial restitution in lieu of exile, imprisonment or even (and this gets complicated,) execution, depending on the severity of the offense against the victim.  Execution should only be considered for repeat offenders or after all other solutions have failed, and should never be taken lightly.  Again, this part becomes complicated, and as
such, further elaboration would require a separate discussion.

There is a growing movement in this country for a move toward a more voluntary society.  Many of the superstitions that we have been taught and indoctrinated with deserve to be challenged.

There is clear evidence that the status quo is failing us.  Our corrupt system rewards certain criminal behavior (Wall Street, banker bailouts) yet, we have the largest incarcerated population by percentage of total of any country in the world, many who are serving time for crimes with no actual victim.  The elected representatives of our governments have created a debt nightmare that will curse generations to come.  The rise of the surveillance and police states are undeniable even to the casually informed observer.

If the video intrigues you, you should read The Most Dangerous Superstition, written by Larken Rose, who is also the creator of the youtube video above.  I have a copy of the book and would be happy to loan it to you.  If you are on the fence, I suggest you check out some of the reader comments for the book at http://amzn.to/I3dRkX

Namaste

If you like or dislike this approach, please share your thoughts in the comments section.