JOBS AND TAXES
In talking with my libertarian friends, I have noticed incompatible thinking when it comes to the issue of jobs and taxes. This incompatibility is due to their belief that one is voluntary while the other is not. I would argue, in contrast, that one can claim both to be voluntary or claim both are involuntary but it makes no sense to say one is voluntary while the other is not.
(Image from thefactcoalition)
Is the paying of taxes voluntary? I suspect many people would say no. After all, we are told that the only certainties in life are death and taxes. But is it really true to say that one is forced to pay taxes? I would argue that, actually, one can choose not to pay. 'Ah', reply the libertarians, 'but if you so behave you will go to prison'. This may be true, but notice how such an eventuality does not refute the stance that one may choose not to pay taxes. All it does is point out that you can choose not to pay and face the consequences that might well arise from that decision.
If choosing to do something because you expect to be punished if you do not counts as coercion, then why not say people are coerced into submitting to employment just as they are coerced into paying taxes? There certainly can be dire consequences from not submitting to employment. You could find yourself homeless and living rough on the streets, an outcome that is at least as bad as becoming imprisoned, and possibly worse.
One might reply that people do not always submit to employment just to avoid dire consequences like homelessness; people can find jobs that are very rewarding. Actually, when polls are conducted it is found that most people fail to secure rewarding jobs. Barry Schwartz has looked into the reasons why people engage in work, and according to him, "Gallup has been measuring international employee satisfaction for almost two decades...Overall, Gallup found that...work is more often a source of frustration than one of fulfilment for nearly 90 percent of the world's workers". Still, it remains the case that about ten percent of employees find fulfilment because of (not in spite of) what they do to earn a wage. Doesn't that mean employment is voluntary rather than coerced?
It might mean it can be voluntary, but if so we should conclude that paying taxes is likewise voluntary. After all, people do not just pay taxes because they fear going to prison if they don't; they pay taxes because they have some sense of social responsibility and understand that, through agreeing to pay one's dues, one helps ensure the roads and other transport infrastructure are kept in good working order; that the young may receive an education regardless of their families' financial and social status; that the sick and injured may receive healthcare and so on. Whenever it is revealed that some of the wealthier members of the human race have taken advantage of loopholes to avoid paying the full rate of tax, this is often met with the indignant response that such people are taking too much from society while shirking the obligation to pay their way. If one agrees that the possibility of finding rewarding work serves to refute the notion that employment is based on coercion, one must also agree that the possibility of securing greater social justice through taxation refutes the stance that the taxman coerces people into coughing up the readies.
In conclusion, either submitting to employment and paying taxes are both based on voluntarism, or they are both coercive. It makes no sense to claim one is voluntary while the other is based on force. The claim that one is forced to pay taxes amounts to a position that one feels compelled to choose to pay taxes because the consequences for not doing so are too dire. Call this 'negative coercion'- doing something not because you expect to be rewarded if you do, but because you anticipate punishment if you do not. This, though, is the option that most people face when they consider submitting to employment. Perhaps we should agree that both are voluntary...in the sense that the Highwayman is offering a choice with that famous cry 'your money or your life!'.
REFERENCES
'Why We Work' by Barry Schwartz
