Thread: Dirt poor?
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Old 04-08-2004, 04:48 PM   #234
hot_pastrami
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Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: Salt Lake City, UT
Posts: 1,119
Radar, I'm no Constitutional scholar, so maybe I'm missing something here... but I can't see how you reason out that Income Tax is theft. The US Constitution explicitly allows for future Amendments in Article 5:
Quote:
The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose Amendments to this Constitution, or, on the Application of the Legislatures of two thirds of the several States, shall call a Convention for proposing Amendments, which, in either Case, shall be valid to all Intents and Purposes, as Part of this Constitution...(snip)
And Income Tax was added as an legal Constitutional Amendment in 1913 as Article 16:
Quote:
The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration.
If you're arguing that income tax is theft based on purely moral and/or philosophical grounds, then of course you are entitled to that opinion, but when you live in a democratic state and your opinion is not that of the majority, the only weapon you have any exercisable right to use is non-violent infuence. If you attempt to incite change, against the will of the people, with the aid of force, then it is you who are violating the natural rights of others, regardless of what you may think.

A large part of the government's purpose is to mediate the people, and when there is a difference in opinions or philosophies, no matter how strongly all of the individuals believe they are correct, the machine of democaracy will decide. By continuing to live within the boundaries of that democracy, every person agrees to abide by it.

Or, to use an argument similar to yours... this country is the property of the people of the United States. The people have democratically elected a goverment, and have entrusted that government to create and uphold laws to promote justice and equality for all. If that government takes any action which is objectionable to the people-- who own this country-- it is the responsibility of the people to rectify that through the democratioc process. But as long as the people still entrust governing power to this government, any person who lives in this country and violates the laws of this country is violating the natural rights of the people of the United States.

I think the government has many, many problems, but it could be much worse, and I still have hope that the democratic process will slowly erode away many of the problems over time. If the goverment itself were to ever attempt to remove the democratic power from the people, I'll be right there next to you fighting to win the peoples' country back. But as it is, you're making threats to people who are living by the very Constitution which you claim to hold so dear.
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