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People need to do their best to stop paying so much in taxes to their state governments, failing which the governments get increasingly authoritarian. The state
by OutOfHere 6mo ago
People need to do their best to stop paying so much in taxes to their state governments, failing which the governments get increasingly authoritarian. The state governments clearly have run out of real problems to solve, and when they do, they then attack basic freedoms. Keeping them strongly tax-constrained keeps them lean. As it stands, these governments are representing special interests, not the people. It doesn't matter how many places or where this is happening; the logic is the same. What happens is that the tax money is a prerequisite for strong enforcement. Without an excess in tax money, there isn't going to be substantial enforcement. I am not asking anyone to break tax law; only to aggressively hunt for exceptions to your advantage.
Outside of a W-2 salary for which taxes are pre-deducted, there are many ways, more applicable to businesses, also to independent contractors. Even for those with a salary, they ought to do their best to collect all the legally qualified benefits that they can. Lots of independent contractors get paid as W-2 when they could be getting paid as a corp, for which they could write off a portion of the taxes via deductibles and in various other ways. Lots of people could be ordering online at websites that don't deduct a sales tax. Using a Delaware corp for various transactions can also go a long way. Living in a geography where the property taxes are not absurdly high or rising also matters.
- nephihaha 6mo agoThis is happening worldwide.
- OutOfHere 6mo agoIt is not happening in destitute countries, is it? If you have normalized and given up already, then your fight is already lost.
- nephihaha 6mo agoI don't know what the deal in developing countries is with this, but it is popping up on multiple continents. The PRC doesn't need it since their internet is so heavily controlled (although I gather workarounds exist), and it does feel like the west is copying the PRC.
- wartywhoa23 6mo agoKudos for highlighting this, because almost everyone here seems to be thinking of their own pot, not the whole kitchen.
- abustamam 6mo agoYou're saying that like we have a choice. If we don't pay taxes we get jailed. Simple as that.
- kordlessagain 6mo agoStop paying so much is not the same as not paying. Why are you making it otherwise?
- abustamam 6mo agoOh OK, thanks for clarifying that I can pay less than I owe and be scot free.
- iamnothere 6mo agoMake less, pay less. If you’ve had a successful career already, you may be able to “drop out” and find a place to live cheaply. I’ve heard good things about Panama.
- abustamam 6mo agoIf you've had a successful career already you probably already paid a lot of taxes, unless you're a billionaire in which case you're not paying taxes anyway.
- iamnothere 6mo agoThe best time to start making a lifestyle change was years ago, but the second best time is today. If you can legally opt out, there’s no good reason to keep pouring tax dollars into a corrupt, possibly unfixable system.
- abustamam 6mo agoSo your solution to fighting against authoritarian regimes is to be rich enough to fuck off to another state/country?
- j0yb0y 6mo agoRepresenting special interests != too much tax money. Orthogonal. It’s a mind boggling leap.
- OutOfHere 6mo agoThe tax money is a prerequisite for strong enforcement. Without an excess in tax money, there isn't going to be substantial enforcement. Think ahead.
- ambicapter 6mo agoHere's another prerequisite, even farther back than "strong enforcement"--not voting in governments with authoritarian tendencies.
- iamnothere 6mo agoUnfortunately it’s been impossible to avoid Red or Blue flavored authoritarianism for the last few decades due to authoritarian control over both the political process and the entrenched bureaucracy.
- wat10000 6mo agoHow exactly am I supposed to do that?
- dntrkv 6mo agoYes because the countries with lower taxes are so free and democratic. Pretty sure the relationship is inverse if you take even 5 min of your time to look.