Tax
Clerk
You work in the tax department of some government - a Town or State or perhaps the Federal one. Maybe you enter data to its computer system, or serve as receptionist where the public comes to visit, or you keep the filing system in order. Or you may be one of the tax professionals, actually making sure that tax is collected according to law. How honest is any of that?
Tax is defined as a "forced exaction" for the support of government. By its nature, it's never a voluntary contribution. This on its own is adequate proof that, contrary to all they say and teach, governments are not popular, desirable or necessary - for if they delivered services people wanted, people would pay for them without compulsion, or force. That's the way services and goods are provided in the market - you know that, for you go shopping nearly every day; providers offer them, and buyers choose to pay their price. If they prefer their money to the services at the price offered, there is no deal. But with government - as with the Mafia - offers are made that cannot be refused. Payment is collected by force.
In plain English, that means that all taxation is
theft. The removal of property from its owner, regardless of the owner's
wishes. That's the environment in which you are working; the function you are
laboring to support. Without your help, such theft would not be possible. This
ugly fact is disguised by governments with fine phrases like "tax is the price
we pay for civilization" but the truth is quite the opposite, as shown in Your Tax Dollars at Work , written a few years ago;
the numbers are bigger now, but the proportions are about the same. What
taxation pays for is barbarism, not civilization. Working to support
this is not even close to honest.
Governments also disguise the ugly nature of taxes by saying they are "the Law" as if that made some difference, as if it applied lipstick to the pig. It doesn't. Consider a society of 100 people. 99 of them get by, but one - Mr Stoniguy - has vast wealth, honestly acquired. A vote is held. By 99 to 1, the society decides to take half of Mr Stoniguy's money and share it among the 99. This action was perfectly legal (by the rules of that society, fixed by supermajority vote) and perfectly democratic; but perfectly dishonest.
In the case of the Federal Income Tax, there's another level of dishonesty: it isn't even legal! You can verify that quite easily. Open up the lawbook (USC Title 26, aka the Internal Revenue Code) and search for a statute that compels people to pay this tax or to file a return. There are some, but they all apply only to those who are "liable" for this tax. Now look for a statute that makes anyone "liable" for it. There isn't one!
Here's another way to verify this fact. Go to the IRS web site that shows why "tax protester" arguments are wrong, in the IRS' view. The site considers each argument in turn, then says "the Courts have ruled" the opposite. And that's nearly always true; there aren't many exceptions. The Courts - the Judicial Branch - have so ruled. Not the Law itself, written by the people's representatives in Congress, but the Courts. That web site would certainly quote statutes to prove the protesters wrong, if there were any. There aren't.
Finally you can verify this surprising fact by looking for a legal definition of the term "income" - the stuff being taxed. There isn't one! The implications of that are huge, and are explored in the paper Remarks on the Meaning of "Income."
Whether the taxes you are helping to collect are legalized or not, their collection is stealing pure and simple, and so you are without question engaged in thoroughly dishonest work. So that you can sleep easy and look yourself in the mirror, quit your job.
Today would not be too soon. Self-esteem is a vital part of life. We all need a purpose, a raison d'être, a way to feel pride in what we have been able to accomplish, a basis for ambition to achieve more in future.
Working for government undermines your basis for self-esteem. Make a clean break; offer your skills elsewhere. Get an honest job - even if at first you have to take a pay cut. You'll not regret it; at life's end you will look back in pride and pleasure, and be able to say, "I helped build that!"
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