2 ms·

Which time period specifically are you talking about?

Mz 10y ago
The US was originally founded as a Confederation: http://faculty.washington.edu/qtaylor/a_us_history/am_rev_timeline.htm http://faculty.washington.edu/qtaylor/a_us_history/am_rev_ti... http://www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/revolution/confed.htm http://www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/revolution/confed.h... This emphasized state powers. The central government was extremely weak. The constitution came about in 1887, more than a decade later, strengthening the central government. http://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-by-era/creating-new-government/essays/creating-new-government http://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-by-era/creating-new-gov... http://faculty.washington.edu/qtaylor/a_us_history/1700_1800_timeline.htm http://faculty.washington.edu/qtaylor/a_us_history/1700_1800... The initial form of government under which the US was formed was a confederation of independent nation-states. This form of government never survived long and the newly born country was foundering until they made some critical adjustments, thereby strengthening the central government. I am not going to research this further. Off the top of my head, the central government initially lacked teeth in terms of ability to a) raise money and b) raise an army. This was threatening to cause the entire thing to collapse until the form of government was fundamentally altered. The confederation was put to an end when we ratified the constitution, iirc. We are talking about very early American history, if that helps.
- true_religion 10y ago
  Thanks. It looks like you were mixing up two different time periods then. The US income tax was only ratified in 1913, which would put its creation to just a year before World War 1. So the US "survived" just about 124 years of modern civilisation without an income tax. I don't realistically think that anyone is talking about returning to the days of the "Confederacy" that lasted what 2-3 years back in the 1700s, but the fact of the matter is that you have a lot of latitude in how you can separate powers between different governmental bodies and not collapse as a country. If you were to replace the direct federal income tax with a levee on individual states (whom then go on to decide how and when to tax their residents), I doubt the government will 'collapse'. Now to be fair, the US is a lot more decentralised than many European countries yet it is still more centralised than its northern neighbour Canada.
  - Mz 10y ago
    No, I am not mixing up anything. You and I are just focused on different pieces of the GP statement. Suggesting, as you are, that things could be monetized differently is a rather different position from decrying the role the federal government plays and actively advocating for essentially hamstringing it.
  - dragonwriter 10y ago
    > The US income tax was only ratified in 1913, which would put its creation to just a year before World War 1. The US had an income tax before that. What was ratified was a Constitutional amendment giving the federal government plenary and independent power to levy an income tax.

Mz 10y ago

The US was originally founded as a Confederation: http://faculty.washington.edu/qtaylor/a_us_history/am_rev_timeline.htm http://faculty.washington.edu/qtaylor/a_us_history/am_rev_ti... http://www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/revolution/confed.htm http://www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/revolution/confed.h... This emphasized state powers. The central government was extremely weak. The constitution came about in 1887, more than a decade later, strengthening the central government. http://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-by-era/creating-new-government/essays/creating-new-government http://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-by-era/creating-new-gov... http://faculty.washington.edu/qtaylor/a_us_history/1700_1800_timeline.htm http://faculty.washington.edu/qtaylor/a_us_history/1700_1800... The initial form of government under which the US was formed was a confederation of independent nation-states. This form of government never survived long and the newly born country was foundering until they made some critical adjustments, thereby strengthening the central government. I am not going to research this further. Off the top of my head, the central government initially lacked teeth in terms of ability to a) raise money and b) raise an army. This was threatening to cause the entire thing to collapse until the form of government was fundamentally altered. The confederation was put to an end when we ratified the constitution, iirc. We are talking about very early American history, if that helps.

true_religion 10y ago
Thanks. It looks like you were mixing up two different time periods then. The US income tax was only ratified in 1913, which would put its creation to just a year before World War 1. So the US "survived" just about 124 years of modern civilisation without an income tax. I don't realistically think that anyone is talking about returning to the days of the "Confederacy" that lasted what 2-3 years back in the 1700s, but the fact of the matter is that you have a lot of latitude in how you can separate powers between different governmental bodies and not collapse as a country. If you were to replace the direct federal income tax with a levee on individual states (whom then go on to decide how and when to tax their residents), I doubt the government will 'collapse'. Now to be fair, the US is a lot more decentralised than many European countries yet it is still more centralised than its northern neighbour Canada.
- Mz 10y ago
  No, I am not mixing up anything. You and I are just focused on different pieces of the GP statement. Suggesting, as you are, that things could be monetized differently is a rather different position from decrying the role the federal government plays and actively advocating for essentially hamstringing it.
- dragonwriter 10y ago
  > The US income tax was only ratified in 1913, which would put its creation to just a year before World War 1. The US had an income tax before that. What was ratified was a Constitutional amendment giving the federal government plenary and independent power to levy an income tax.