"Low Taxes" is "conservative" BS
The second of the “big four” slogans that pre-Trump “conservatives” used to swear by is “Low Taxes.” This is just as much BS as “Small Government,” which I dealt with in my previous post.
“Low Taxes” is not, and cannot be, a principle of any kind. It is an even worse excuse for a principle than “Small Government.” Not only is it a highly relative term (it depends entirely on one’s interpretation of what constitutes “High Taxes”) but it also is completely at odds with reality.
Reality demands that taxes be “right-sized” for the obligations of government. In America, we must pay enough taxes to fulfill the six duties enumerated in the Constitution—“form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty.”
“Low taxes” could only comport with those obligations if the country were very small or if the costs were very cheap. Neither of those conditions reflect reality.
So “Low Taxes” is BS on its face, as is any “principle” that conflicts with reality.
So how can it even be a slogan? Why doesn’t everyone just laugh at it?
Because it plays on the selfishness and greed of humanity. It “sounds good” to people who are self-involved and unconcerned with social cohesion.
Since the beginning of the modern “conservative” movement in the 1950s, right-wing apologists have painted taxes as a burden on citizens. It has been such a relentless propaganda campaign that it is now taken almost for granted. Many people actually think of taxes as government theft.
Contrast this with the view of Oliver Wendell Holmes, who spoke the actual truth: “Taxes are what we pay for a civilized society.”
The truth is that it’s not a matter of “High Taxes” or “Low Taxes.” The real question about taxes is whether they can support the civilized society we want.
And the answer to this question is different for Republicans and Decent Americans. Somehow, Republicans don’t understand that everything they fear most will come to pass if we don’t have a civilized society. If you don’t have basic government protections, you can’t keep “your money” or “your property” safe from marauders. You can’t stop con artists from cheating you. You can’t stop thugs from beating or killing you.
One proof that “conservatives” don't understand this is the famous quotation from Grover Norquist: “My goal is to cut government in half in twenty-five years, to get it down to the size where we can drown it in the bathtub.” This quotation is loved by “conservatives.” They don’t see the next step. Once the baby is dead, so are the protections that ensured their rights to keep their money and property.
Another proof that “conservatives” don’t understand the need for civilized society is their consistent behavior. Whenever they get control of government they cut taxes.
Unlike “Small Government,” which “conservatives” don't really believe in, “Low Taxes” is a maxim from which they never deviate. The only “conservative” president to raise taxes since Reagan was George H. W. Bush—and he was turned out of office because of it.
What happens when “conservatives” cut taxes? They say it increases dynamism in the economy because people take all sorts of new ventures when they keep more of "their money” (which, I remind you, they wouldn't have without government services to protect private property).
But what actually happens is that government services are cut, income inequality increases, poverty increases, regulation decreases, bad businesses and investors try to make a killing, bubbles burst, and the economy threatens to crash. Then Democrats are called in to fix things. And as soon as they do it, Republicans start tearing down the fixes and fighting for control of government so they can do it all again.
“Low Taxes” is a BS “principle.” It leads to poor government—and that is its best outcome.
It’s worst outcome is what we are on the verge of suffering: the complete collapse of democracy. By training people to be selfish and antisocial, by teaching people to feel aggrieved by any request for sacrifice, and by indoctrinating people to use power and force whenever possible, “conservatives” have raised a generation of spoiled brats. And then Trump whipped them up into a violent mob that attacked democracy last January. And now all the spoiled brats are trying to arrange it so that they will never have to sacrifice anything ever again: they are rigging the election system to get themselves absolute power forever.
“Low Taxes” is the monetary version of the selfishness and recalcitrance that fuels “Small Government.” And it has the same root human vice—the worship of power.
“Conservatives” want to have complete power over “their money.” They can’t stand the idea that they owe society a share of “their money” for protecting their very ability to make money and hold onto it. And they certainly can’t stand the idea that anyone else in society should get a benefit from “their money,” even though it is the same benefit that is shared by all equally.
If the fact that “Low Taxes” doesn't work for society were not enough to show that “Low Taxes” is nonsense, the hunger for power—the Satanic vice that animates both “Low Taxes” and “Small Government”—vitiates any claim that this “conservative principle” is anything but pure BS.
Decent Americans should never fall for the “Low Taxes” scam. It is more “conservative” BS that exists only to cover an odious vice.
And the enthusiasm of “conservatives” for this BS “principle” shows just how much they idolize the vice that energizes it.