Justification was always readily at hand, same as someone with a credit card problem always has a good reason for just one more purchase. Alas, as Thomas Sowell puts it, 'There are no solutions, only trade-offs,' so more spending on visible government programs empties the pockets of millions of invisible ordinary people. They are that much less free to pursue their own individual dreams of happiness, and accomplish their own good works. The art of taxation consists of so plucking the goose as to obtain the largest possible amount of feathers with the smallest possible amount of hissing. In the year 2000, it was May 3rd.
Taxation has many insidious effects.
The benefit of the exchange is lost. The present US taxation system reflects an ongoing class war , in which a majority exploits a minority, the rich. To see just how unfairly the tax burden falls on the shoulders of the rich, check out this page of tax statistics . All this pales into insignificance before the prospect facing the liberal societies of the West. The income of the drug barons is greater than the American defense budget .