© 2005 by G. Edward Griffin.
Updated 20016, March 31.
I am in agreement with income-tax protesters that the tax, as commonly applied, is unconstitutional, unfair, and immoral. I also am aware that there are numerous celebrated cases of those who have successfully challenged the tax. However, I am not convinced this is a wise path for the average citizen, because it requires a great deal of study and expertise to avoid making fatal mistakes in court or with the IRS, and most people do not have the time or aptitude for that. Unfortunately, for every victory, there have been many defeats and ruined lives. Even those who have been successful in challenging the tax do not recommend that everyone should follow their path.
Some have claimed that we can starve the beast simply by not feeding taxes to it, but they do not understand the function of the Federa
Reserve System. If everyone stopped paying income taxes today, the beast would never miss a meal, because the government easily can continue taking from us all the money it wants through the process of debt-based inflation.
That fact brings us to a realization that the income tax is not our only problem. Our leaders are out of control; we are losing our
sovereignty to the UN; are engaged in a ruinous war motivated by hidden agendas; our children are being brainwashed in government schools; our privacy and personal liberties are disappearing rapidly; we are being forced to subject ourselves to state-mandated medical treatments; our standard of living is being eroded by a fiat monetary system; and many more similar horrors are before us.
These are just as important as the income tax burden. Unfortunately, many tax protesters do not grasp this. They are dynamos of energy when it comes to protecting their wallets from taxes but are motionless on these other issues.
One of our most important tasks in Freedom Force is to help them see the larger picture.
It is praiseworthy to take a stand on principle and be
willing to go to prison, if necessary, for what we believe is right, but this resolve needs to be weighed against other possibilities. If other options are open to us, we need to consider if any of them might be more effective for our purposes. In other words, we need to see if there are things we can do out of prison that would be more effective in promoting our fight against the income tax than what we can do in prison. If there were, then it would be foolish to choose the option with the lesser probability of success. That would be like throwing ourselves into the teeth of enemy machine-gun fire when we have the option of moving through a gully and attacking from behind. Yes, it would be courageous to sacrifice one’s self in a frontal attack. But, if there were a better option, it would be an irrational act of suicide and a lost chance for victory.
So we must ask: Is there a better option for us? The answer is: It depends on our goal. If our purpose simply is to get out from under a personal tax liability, then the answer is no. Our only chance of success is to throw ourselves directly into confrontation with the IRS and give it all we have – and be willing to face the consequences. But, if our goal is to change the system and remove the tax for everyone – really remove it, not just have it metamorphose into another form – then we have a better option. We can organize and work like blue blazes to repeal the 16th Amendment and to reduce the size and scope of government so it will no longer need so much revenue. But we can’t do that very well inside a prison.
Because of these considerations, I have always supported the income-tax protest movement and applauded its leaders for courage and adherence to principle but I have channeled my own efforts into the larger crusade. In fact, that is what Freedom Force is all about. It is our belief that true reform cannot be achieved by a focus on one issue to the exclusion of all others. We must have the battlefield in view, not just the trench. We must become catalysts within many organizations, each of which has its own issues and goals. Many of our members are active in the income-tax protest movement, but in doing so their goal is, not merely to escape their immediate tax liability, but to change the system so the tax will be abolished once and for all – for them and everyone else. They do this, not just to keep their money, but also to bring about reform. Even if they could find a loophole that would relieve them from paying any personal taxes whatsoever, they would continue to oppose the tax just as arduously as before.
This is a long path, but it is the only one that leads to freedom and fairness for all.
The Perfect Tax
If there ever could be such a thing, this is it. Here is an address by G. Edward Griffin describing the brilliant tax plan that was used successfully to finance the US government for 137 years. Learn the real reason we have an income tax (it is not to raise revenue for the government) and discover the hidden dangers of a flat tax, national sales tax, value-added tax, and other so-called tax-reform proposals. Available from The Reality Zone here.