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comment by mk
mk  ·  4800 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Elizabeth Warren Quote about the Social Contract Implied in Success
How so?

I just meant that you are born into any social situation without choice, whether it is a highly structured government, or an agreed lack of government.

Not sure where you're getting this date from. 1913 is the date. Which would mean we've had no income tax longer than we've had income tax.

Sorry, I was wrong. This first time a Federal income tax was proposed was during the war of 1812, but it wasn't enacted. The first time it was levied was in 1861 during the Civil War. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revenue_Act_of_1861 (signed by the first Republican President, no less!) it expired in 1873. Another income tax was introduced in 1864, but was struck down by the Supreme Court the next year. Then yes, it returned again in 1913.





artifex  ·  4799 days ago  ·  link  ·  
Well, I think you get my point then. People like senators and congressmen, and even the president, all served on a volunteer basis. Sure, there are some issues with that (would only rich, self-sufficient people become representatives? [but then again, isn't that what we have right now?]). Save for times of war (which, from a liberty-minded perspective, Lincoln was a monster), Americans largely did not know what an income tax was.

But given that we're a nation that's in perpetual war (in order to maintain a global empire), I wonder how feasible getting rid of the income tax would be.