Tea Parties and Taxes

Having attended two "Tea Parties" in Colorado, one at the Capitol and one in Loveland, I obtained an interesting perspective on the meaning behind the events. With news media headlines the following day containing words like "Anti-Government Protests," and "Most Americans OK With Big Government," and the Department of Homeland Security releasing warnings about "Right Wing Extremests" being terrorists, I was happy to have attended the events personally so I could get the true story behind the events and the people in attendance.

I didn't just attend the rallies and hold a sign. I walked around and talked to people to find out why they were there. Sure there were people representing fringe groups at the event promoting conspiracy theories or their pet issue; however, from my perspective, the vast majority were there to protest BIG government and out of control spending. Fundamentally, they attended because they felt their individual pursuit of happiness (and that of their posterity) was being infringed on by government.

The atmosphere felt more like a "4th of July" celebration as opposed to a protest. People were celebrating the founding principles of the country as much as they were protesting the erosion of their individual liberties over decades of government growth and expanding statist idealogies within our political system. Each individual may have had their own reason for being there, but everyone I spoke with had tossed aside their party affiliation and were unified by the principles that our forefathers had framed in our country's founding documents.

Unfortunately, much of the mainstream media are not reporting what I found out. In fact, they glossed over most of the true story. They led with stories such as "Most Americans OK with Big Government for now." Not only do they lead with this story but they back it up with statistics that are clearly flawed. It is amazing that a poll can be reported that says "52% of Americans feel they are ok with the amount of taxes they are paying." The poll didn't throw out the ones that weren't paying any taxes! Also, with a progressive income tax system where a minority of people pay the majority of taxes, wouldn't you expect that the majority would say they felt they were being taxed appropriately?

What most people don't realize is there are many hidden taxes they don't know they are paying. Corporations hand off their taxes by raising the price of goods and services. Employers reduce salaries (or hire less people) to pay the hidden portion of the payroll tax. Trickle down taxation is dangerous because hard-working Americans don't even realize they are being raped! To top it off, people are being told that spending (which obviously results in HIGHER taxes) is the solution to our current economic problems. This recovery plan is so idiotic (and ironic) because excessive, uncontrolled spending is what got us in this economic mess to begin with.

Isn't democracy great! Americans are being lied to and big government is being justified by using the tryanny of unchecked democracy. Politicians and the media are twisting the truth to make it appear that "the majority" of people support something (e.g. big government spending solutions and the current levels of taxation) to justify their position. If the United States had relied on this as a basis for determining our principles and policies throughout history, minorities would never have any rights whatsoever. In forming government policy, politicians must always rely on the founding principles of our constitution and that of an individual's right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Surely politicians must NOT rely on the tyranny of the majority or the "progressive" whims of the "collective."

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Government Founded in Liberty

I like the saying "killing two birds with one stone" -- what I like more is when circumstances allow me to apply it in my life. Recently I started listening to audio books while exercising and found it as a great way to keep both my body and mind fit. One book I have been listening to is Murray Rothbard's Conceived in Liberty about the struggle for liberty during the pre-revolutionary period of American history.

A common thread I noted from listening to the book was that governments of that period existed only to protect the government itself or the self interests of a particular group of people in power. Individuals who did not conform to the government were subjected to the tyrannical machinations of those in power ranging from fines to public whippings, jail, or even hanging.

Fortunately for me I can learn indirectly from history and not from directly experiencing these tyrannical governments (at least so far). In applying the foundational truth of an individual's right to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness", it is evident that one of the fundamental flaws of these pre-revolutionary forms of government was that the governments were not founded on the principle of protecting an individual's liberty. The governments of that period clearly put the rights of elite groups of people over that of the individual.

The book impressed upon me some of the reasons why people were willing to fight so hard to gain their liberty. Individuals of today seem to have grown complacent and appear to be ignorant of the painful history that led up to the American Revolution. Unfortunately, this ignorance has led many people today to take the selfish view of government actions:

"if it doesn't affect me, then it is ok for government to do it"

or

"hey, that would be great for me"

without accounting for the affect the government actions have on the rights of other individuals. Or people justify government actions by saying:

"that's awesome, it is helping that group of poor people"

and don't evaluate the altruistic notion of the government "helping a certain group of people" in the context of how these government actions affect the rights and liberties of other individuals. The bottom line, regarding government actions, is that an apparent collective right cannot trump the right of any individual. First and foremost, every government action must be grounded in protecting individual liberties. One thing to note is that the government is not providing anything here except protection of the individual's liberty. It is up to the individual what they do with their liberty. Once their liberty is secured, it is up to the individual to pursue their own happiness, on their own accord, reaping and sowing the reward (good and bad) of their own endeavors.

All this sort of begs the question as to why we need or even have governments. But, fundamentally, some entity must protect one individual or group of individuals from infringing on another individual's right. One entity that can be created to perform this task is government. In founding this government, the principle of protecting individual liberties is, and must be, the underlying basis for it's framing. If protecting individual liberties is not the underling action of governments, then those governments will eventually degenerate into the tyrannical governments of the pre-revolutionary period of America.

In closing, it is clear that the Founding Fathers of the United States understood the concept that government must not be in business to protect itself or a certain group of people, but rather, to protect the individual liberties of the people it governs:

Government is instituted to protect property of every sort; as well that which lies in the various rights of individuals, as that which the term particularly expresses. This being the end of government, that alone is a just government which impartially secures to every man whatever is his own. (James Madison)

[A] wise and frugal government... shall restrain men from injuring one another, shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is the sum of good government. (Thomas Jefferson)

Every government degenerates when trusted to the rulers of the people alone. The people themselves, therefore, are its only safe depositories. (Thomas Jefferson)

It has been said that all Government is an evil. It would be more proper to say that the necessity of any Government is a misfortune. This necessity however exists; and the problem to be solved is, not what form of Government is perfect, but which of the forms is least imperfect. (James Madison)

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