The purpose and use of the tax-system

Taxes are something most of us look very differently at. They are usually a certain rate of our income and on prices of things we buy and sell. The purpose of taxes is to fund the State and its agencies and institutions. The State does not have to ask individuals and companies for permission before they are taxed, much like a thief doesn't ask before he steals. However, taxes are a legal theft.

But what are those agencies and institutions the taxes are funding? There is the police and the legal system, the parliament, in many cases a health care system, in many cases a school system, in many cases some welfare system, and so on. Taxes are ear-market to fund these and related functions of the State. That's all very well, although I am very much opposed to the State being in charge of many of the institutions and agencies it has in it clutches today (in Iceland).

But there are other taxes - taxes which have nothing to do with the legal system, the welfare system and so on. What taxes are those? Extra taxes on alcohol and tobacco besides the taxes put on other products. Extra taxes on gasoline and cars. Extra taxes on those who earn more than a certain amount a year. Extra customs on imported agricultural products.

In one word: Government babysitting and brainwashing of grown, free and sane individuals.

Why do we tolerate this State-control of what we should eat, drink and put into our bodies? The only valid argument is the cost-factor: People who eat and drink unhealthy quickly become an extra-baggage on the publicly run health care system, and therefore its justifiable to try to keep people away from something which leads to the unhealthiness. These arguments are valid because the State handles the health care system. I don't want the State to do that, but as long as it does these arguments hold. In the same way it can be a valid argument for high taxes on cars and gasoline that the government is trying to reduce the usage of public, State-owned roads. I don't want the State to own all the road-system but as long as it does this argument holds.

But then there are the classic Leftist-arguments that high taxes on "luxury"-items and "polluting"-items are necessary to guide people from wrong to right (according to the Leftists themselves). A nice side-product from the guiding-taxation is of course the money which are handed to Leftist-politicians to spend on their favorite group of voters. Leftists don't even make attempts to associate taxation with logic - their goal is simply to enforce their own taste of what is good and bad on others, and never think they have to ask for permission. Their noble cause doesn't need such boring formalities.

This usage of the tax-system is completely intolerable in my eyes. What business is it to others what I spend on? Why does the government subsidize milk but overtax wine? Is it in the name of good health and good science? No. It's in the name of control and supervision of adults. I will accept taxation to fund the operation of the institutions and agencies the State holds in it grips today, hoping that gradually the State will privatize and sell off and reduce its role in society as a functioning member (in stead becoming a guardian of law and order). I will never accept taxes which are aimed on a certain, pre-determined lifestyle. Leftists, Fascists, Communists and Socialists should mind their own business in their choice of lifestyle.