The outcome will determine the liberties our children will inherit from us in the next century. The course of our civilization appears to be following the final era of the Roman Empire, with citizens in bondage to the tax system. This bondage in Rome was instituted against the spiritual grain of Roman history and destroyed the liberty of a once-free society. But Gibbon was wrong. This bondage of the once- free Roman was the tax man's final victory over the extensive evasions and flight that had endangered the emperor's revenue.
Similar conditions exist today.
As the United States government achieves its final victory over the liberty of the vast majority of citizens, we may not be shackled to our jobs like the later Romans, but all indications are that the earnings of our jobs and everything else will be shackled to the state. The struggle between communism and democracy may be over, but the choice now is between liberty and bondage. Throughout most of history, liberty has not been lost to foreign invaders, but to the very government that was supposed to protect it. The Impact of Taxes on the Course of Civilization.