The Objectivist Center celebrates Tax Day

Click here for Cato. And Townhall links over a dozen articles: here's a nice one.

April 15: A Day of Moral Shame
by Edward Hudgins

Americans celebrate July 4 with pride as the day we gained our independence.
However, we should lament April 15 - tax day -- as the day that too many of us
all too willingly surrender our liberty and opportunities in life. Here's why.

All free individuals want to run their own lives. When we leave the loving
protection of our parents we should express our love for those who raised us by
showing ourselves to be independent adults. As grown men and women we look
forward to the challenge of discovering and creating the goals and purposes that
will give us joy in life; of acquiring the knowledge and skills we need to make
a living; and of earning the resources necessary to realize our dreams.

We should consider it an insult if others - whether from well-meaning or
paternalistic motives -- take us by the hand and say, "There, there, little boys
and girls, I'll take care of you." And we should be embarrassed if we allow
ourselves in a moment of weakness to be so treated.

Yet this is just the relationship between most citizens and politicians.
Politicians tell us, "We know you're not up to the burden of raising your own
children, earning enough money to educate them, insuring yourselves against
illness or unemployment, saving for your retirement, tying your own shoes or
wiping your own noses without our help. Don't worry, we'll give you all you
need."

If we have any integrity we should spit on such offers. We should resent the
theft of our opportunities to experience the pride that comes from taking
responsibility for our own lives as well as the theft of our money by tax
collectors to make good on these politicians' promises. Rather, we should tell
our government to protect our lives, liberties and property -- that is, our
freedom and independence -- and otherwise leave us alone. Instead, a majority of
citizens applaud politicians and candidates who drag them further down into the
depths of dependency.

Many Americans concede liberty but console themselves by pleading for the return
of some of their money in the form of government loans for their kid's college,
a Medicare prescription drug benefit or trade protection for the company for
which they work. But this misses the full moral picture. As responsible
individuals we should feel anger and resentment at the politicians who created
and perpetuated this system, who are turning us into beggars. When such
politicians offer us more handouts, we should react as we would if they offered
us heroine. We should see politicians as pushers who addict us to government.

Taxes are the fuel that feeds big government and April 15 is the day when we
must surrender to this system.

If the choice were offered, many of us would give up our government benefits and
handouts in exchange for having most of our taxes eliminated, which would leave
us with tens of thousands of dollars of our own money for our own purposes and,
most important, would restore independence and control to our lives. Those of us
who would make this trade should make it our mission to rescue our fellow
citizens the way we might rescue an alcoholic or drug addict from their
self-destructive ways.

We should appeal to their reason, pointing out that a system that punishes the
most productive people by taking a greater portion of the wealth that they
create will inevitably make us all poorer. We should appeal to their moral
sense, pointing out that it is wrong to maintain a tax system that encourages
us, through our politicians, to pick each other's pockets. We should appeal to
their deepest sense of self-respect, pointing out that there is no higher joy
than taking responsibility for our own lives.

Those who repent their support for this system can redeem themselves by
rebelling against politicians who offer us the Faustian bargain that in the end
leaves us morally as well as materially impoverished. Then, someday, April 15
will cease to be a day of shame and instead mark the time that subjects stood
and became free citizens, reclaiming their lives, liberty and property.


******************************
The Objectivist Center is a national not-for-profit think tank promoting the
values of reason, individualism, freedom and achievement in American culture.
For more information, please visit www.ObjectivistCenter.org. To unsubscribe to
this list, or to subscribe to the Center's Web Update List, please visit
http://www.objectivistcenter.org/email_updates.asp.