Seems like everyone else is on here, so I may as well join in the fun. Is it safe to say that I blame Jeff? Yes, yes it is.
On to the story!
Once upon a time, there was a magnificent, gloriously naive unicorn who thought that the political system, governments and taxation were all just a part of how the world worked. One day, this unicorn wanted to buy some stuff from a store that she and her family often went to, and since the toys and books weren't food, they were taxed. The unicorn was embarrassed in front of the entire line and cashier with the dishonor of not having enough money to pay for her items with the sudden and hither to unforeseen prince increase. She begged her generous mother to cover her ass, and that was this unicorn's first encounter with the theft that is taxation. Ever since then, the unicorn worked very hard for many hours a day to find out just why humanity thought it was okay to suddenly increase the price of things at the time of purchase.
Here is what she found out:
Taxes are the price humans pay to live in a civilized societ-
WRONG!
Taxes are theft. If you do not pay them, you will be fined. If you do not pay that fine, which is simply an extension of that theft, and also extortion, you will be jailed. If you fight being jailed, you can be killed. It's as simple (and violent) as that.
But, I suppose, the real question is, why is it that people in general are just fine being stolen from? Is it really because they believe that taxation is legitimate? Is there some deeper, more sinister reason? The unicorn asks herself these things daily, still searching and trying to find a way to properly address this particular issue, and thus far, her explorations have been... not so enlightening, but there are more things on this planet that humanity doesn't seem to understand, not only about themselves, but about the world they live in.
If taxation really was the price for living in a civilized society (and I say 'civilized' as the common usage of the term, as in a 'proper,' 'non-violent' [snicker], 'morally upright' [uncontrollable giggling], etc.), you would think we would have a civilized society by now. Yet, we have a society where humans violently oppress other humans who disagree with them, for even suggesting that their governments may not be all they're cracked up to be. We have a society that continues to denigrate women, children, the infirm, the elderly and the poor. We have a society that thinks it's just fine for agents of the state to kill people for not paying 'their fair share' or simply for resisting arrest.
If taxation really IS (and this unicorn isn't saying that it is) the price for living in a civilized society, it would be prudent to say that, based on all evidence available to humanity, taxation fails this test. Perhaps, then, the more important question is, if taxation is NOT the price we pay for a civilized society, what kind of society DOES taxation pay for? Well, look around and you will see it: crumbling infrastructure, massive corporate bailouts, perpetual wars, humans being forced to work longer, being paid less, bureaucracy beyond reason, being disconnected from one another, having not enough money to pay rent, electricity, food, etc...
What would the world look like without taxation? This unicorn isn't sure, but she imagines a beautiful place with roads that are paid for by either by donations, subscriptions, E-Passes or simply with toll roads, without the threat of force to extort those fees. Perhaps even a place where people are free to keep 30% or more of their own pay, homes that aren't required to be hooked up to lead-leeching pipes or faulty wiring, where individuals can grow food on their lawn if they want to or even collect the rainwater that falls on their roof without fear of some ubiquitous violent nanny state telling them they can't do it for some frivolous reason like cutting into the profits of water companies WHO, by the way, may very well become obsolete, or will at least need to find better ways of getting higher quality water to their customers without the threat of a violent state forcing them to pay for it...
As this unicorn winds down her little story (well, more of a ramble at this point), she would like you to know that she is hoping to end this farce of taxation worldwide, as well as the wars, tariffs, embargoes and all other artificial barriers to trade that are enforced by violent governments. She is also the currently uncontested king of the world as far as she knows, and none of her 'dictates' will be enforced with any kind of violence, but only with kindness, example and action toward those goals if individuals are willing to listen.
And that's just a sampling of what goes on in this unicorn's head.
What do you think?