ONE WAY STREET
However, there are other questions that we must answer. Why is that this process is one-way only? How is it possible that this process did not happen in the beginning? Why is it happening only now? Well, it did happen in the past. In mathematical terms this process is known as a geometric progression but in sections close to the (0,0) coordinate it resembles a linear progression. The what? Simple. Take a look at the picture below.
As you can see in the beginning both growths are quite similar and crucially small. Nobody pay them too much attention. It is only over time that they became different. And why would tax increases be geometric and not linear? If they would be linear they could be made to increase at the same speed as wealth increases and this would not cause such a problem. Tax increases are geometric and not linear because tax increases are bids, just like in an auction. The more people want an item, the more they will bid. The more politicians A and B want to be elected, the more they will tax. Eventually this bidding process will overtake the speed of wealth creation. This is inevitable because taxation is locked-in. This is so because spending is what buys votes, specifically from "poor" people. Poor people do not vote politicians that spend less, that would be going against their own best interests. Poor people may vote politicians that propose reducing taxes… as long as they keep spending… which is a contradiction in terms. Politicians solve this puzzle by taxing indirectly, this is, increasing borrowing and printing. There is no free lunch.
Because of these reasons, taxes always go up and never down (generally speaking although some exceptions do exist). Taxes are toxic because they decrease our wealth (see Piketty Fences for example) and with it our standards of living but they do more than that, they incarcerate us.
ALL GOVERNMENTS MUST GO
It is for this reason that all governments must go because even if we fix the economic side of the problem politicians will simply syphon out more money hence continuing the racket. But in order to do so, they will retain and enforce all of the self-imposed rules and regulations that allow them to do so. There is no solution within a political system that requires a government. This problem is built-in and cannot be fixed from the inside no matter how hard people try and the reason is that there is no effective way to control politicians (see Who Watches the Watchers for example). Don't believe us? This is easy to verify. Go to any online database of governments and search for taxation per capita or budget per capita over time. You will notice that in general terms they always go up (barring non-standard circumstances such as economic debacles, natural events or wars). Left to their own devices, politicians spend and in order to continue spending they must control. In the process they have turned the world into a prison and your country into your cell. Yes, it is that simple.
HOW DO YOU FEEL?
If you are there somewhere in the trenches with the rest of the non-rich (i.e. non-government-free) population, we are there with you. We feel as you do. We have the same problems. The same issues. The same frustrations. The difference is that we know better, not much better, but slightly better.
You are tired and feel that life is a rat's race with no end. You work all day long but don't earn enough. Things are expensive. Food is expensive. Clothing is expensive. Shelter is expensive (do you rent? - we feel you). You may have a family. You support your family… barely. You don't go out with your friends any longer… too expensive. You take vacations at home. You don't eat outside. Two jobs? Three? Very common these days. You only sleep (when you can), eat and work. That's it.
But that's OK because you hear the government saying that's OK. Politicians say that everything is going to be OK. You vote. You hope. Nothing happens. It's OK. Now is not the time for change. The next election perhaps… meanwhile inflation goes up and you can afford even less. That's OK. We need inflation to reactivate the economy. Everything is OK. Meanwhile bills accumulate and frustration and desperation grows… but it's OK. Everything is going to be OK.
But it isn't. You feel trapped. You can't get out of this situation, you can't even find the door or even know if there is a door. You bounce around in your mind getting madder and madder all the time. There has to be a way out. But there isn't.
But this can't be. This is a "free" country! We have civilization and progress. The government says so. This can't be. There must be something wrong with me… There must be something wrong with me…
WAKE UP!
There is nothing wrong with you. You are reading reality as it truly is. You are most definitively and unquestionably in a prison cell. You have severe economic restrictions placed on you. You have severe freedom restrictions placed on you. Do you still believe that that sensation of being trapped you are experiencing is a bad dream? That the fact that you work day and night and seem to go nowhere while all your paths are closed is an illusion? Think again. This is real. Very real. And this is why we are here. To reassure you that yes indeed you are being brainwashed and that your instincts are indeed correct. You are a slave in a prison. The fact that it is the biggest prison on earth makes no difference, it is still a prison.
DEPRESSED ALREADY?
We sincerely hope so. You see, depression is good. There is an old expression: "You can't fall off the floor". If you are at the bottom, everything else is up. It is for this reason that the way forward is simply to ignore the government as much as possible (see for example When Countries Dissolve ). But this solution, this political evolution will come over time and you need a personal solution now. That's why we advocate The New Ethics. It is the only effective way you have to get a breath of fresh air. To liberate yourself from the cell you live in.
THE SOCIAL SIDE
And then we have to deal with the guilt of our socialistic-minded instructions we were programed with. You know, all those so-called principles that were embedded in our brain through the many years of government brainwashing which apparatchiks call "education".
You see, dear reader, all those restrictions are necessary because we are a "civilized" country. We "care" for people of lower resources and as such we must re-distribute your wealth to them, whether you like it or not. This is so because only we can determine what it is that poor people need, in which quantities and even who is "poor" and who is not (BTW, you are not if you were curious).
We are the only ones who have the power to do so because we have been "democratically" elected and therefore we "represent" everybody whether they voted us or not or even if they did not vote. You must be forced to be represented by us for your own good. And so, we are the sole guardians and deciders of what is fair and just because we are objective while you are not (that's right, we are better human beings than you are). You are not fit to decide what to do with your money but will let you keep some, as long as you don't complain when we take the rest. Furthermore, you are obviously not capable of understanding the principles on which "high finances" (i.e. fiat money) operates and all the efforts we need to do to keep people creating wealth, because we all know that if we don't "stimulate" the economy, people will simply stop working altogether. The notion that all that money manipulation (by Central Banks) and market manipulations are destroying everybody's wealth are obviously flawed. Just because previous markets did far, far better than us without government meddling for over the last 2000 or so years, this does not mean we are in error. We have only been trying for 200+ years and just because we have failed miserably, this does not mean that we will never succeed. Because, you know, the economy is a science in rapid evolution, is not like economic principles have been stagnant ever since cave people begun to trade stone tools. We now, for example, have electronic trading! Yeah… that makes all the difference. Yeah…
Besides, what do you need all that money for? Really. If you have too much money you are not being socially-minded. You are not helping all those people who have absolutely, positively and definitively nothing to do with you at any level whatsoever but you obviously have a responsibility to care for… because we say so. Just remember that we are the "dully elected" representatives of those people and as such we must make this responsibility yours… because we say so. Nevermind that if you would have more wealth you would have shared it voluntarily; we must force you to do so for your own good. Yeah… that's it. For your own good.
Besides, why are you complaining? Don't you get all that "free" stuff anyways that you don't want, need or use, if you qualify for it? Oh, you don't. Well, it does not matter, it is the intention what counts. Nevermind we pay ourselves outrageous salaries and perks and privileges even going into the future; we deserve them since we are working for you, whether you like it or not. You see, it so happens that the reason there are poor people is because we don't distribute enough wealth (yours of course) to them. We need equality…yeah… equality (it sound's good, doesn't it?). Because, you know, we are all equal. We work equally hard in equal jobs doing equal things and therefore we deserve equal wealth. All this nonsense about the division of labour and wages as incentive is nothing more than right-wing propaganda. We know that you work because you like it, not because you need the money to make a living. That is such an obsolete concept.
Feeling better now? Guilt gone? Good!
CONCLUSION
Do you realize now the degree to which you are imprisoned in your own country? Do you realize now the degree to which you have been de-personalized? You are not you any longer; you are a "citizen" a "number" (preferably a taxpayer number), a "resident". Do you realize that governments originated to take care of us and now suddenly (or more precisely subtlety) we have to take care of them? How come that now we are not us any longer but their slaves? Yes, we are slaves because we don't have free will any longer. It has been replaced by the will of the government. Whether you like it or not, whether you know it or not, you live in a prison cell called country. Hope you like the view because there is no escape.
But then again, if you still believe that governments are here to help because they know better and it is your duty to follow socially-minded socialistic practices derived from disastrous communist theories and examples, that's OK. You have the right to be massively wrong at least once in a lifetime. We think this is it… but that's just our opinion.
Note: please see the Glossary if you are unfamiliar with certain words.