Present customs about taxation seem to derive mostly from tributes extracted by conquering tribes Tax money builds roads and other infrastructure in common. Th

Present customs about taxation seem to derive mostly from tributes extracted by conquering tribes Tax money builds roads and other infrastructure in common. The origins of a system don't dictate its current reasons for existence -- it may have started as shamanic tribute, but now it's to provide for social needs. (And, perhaps, to pad the coffers of privileged corporations.)