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Tax withholding masks injustice
By Scott Bushee
Published:
Tuesday, April 15, 2003
Scott Bushee -- Staff Column
"The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist." Those of you who have seen "The Usual Suspects" recognize the ingenious way that that movie made use of this quote.
Unfortunately, fewer of us realize the ingenious way that our government makes use of it.
How do they do this? Income tax withholding.
The trick behind the devil's (which I take to be a more earthly, human form, rather than the literal Devil out of the Bible) actions, or the government's, is that they convince people that there is no problem, that everything is fine, keep going on your daily business, nothing to see here!
Both do so for the same reason. They both realize that if people realized what an enormous wrong was committed, they would revolt. Essentially, as Thomas Paine said, "Sunlight is the best disinfectant."
History shows that the most egregious wrong can be committed, so long as the masses don't realize what an evil it is. This ranges from slavery to the Nazi party, to Stalinism to the mass oppression of women that takes place in many Arab and African countries today.
This same logic applies to the current tax situation in America. The only reason we bear it is because most of the burden is hidden from us. The devil siphons off part of each paycheck, then tricks us into thinking we receive some sort of bonus when they siphoned off too much.
Getting money back on our taxes is exactly that. They took too much from you throughout the year, and now they have to repay you. It is not the government being nice and giving you money.
This has gotten so bad and so well hidden in plain sight that most Americans, when asked how much they make per year automatically reference their "take home" pay. We just assume that we must put up with the burdens of social security tax, state tax, federal tax, this tax and that tax.
This sickens me. We have gone from a country founded on a tax revolt to a country of people who passively accept a government that takes up 50 percent of our income. But hey, that's ok, folks! There is no problem! Just keep going along your daily business. There is nothing to see here!
The simple truth is that if we got rid of the current withholding system today, there would be a tax revolt come next April 15. If people were allowed to do what they want with their income (imagine that, a free people being allowed to do what they want!) they would realize how out of control our modern welfare/warfare state has become. They might even go so far as to do something about it!
Scott Bushee can be reached at
sbushee@universitychronicle.com
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