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203 sats \ 11 replies \ @optimism 20h \ on: Which is Worse: Taxes or Fiat Money? econ
That one was easy: taxes. They generally don't let you opt-out of these whereas opting out of fiat is the act of spending it.
And yet... one has opposition and the other is invisible.
Virtually no one even understands fiat.
Most people have a much better understanding of taxes.
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This is the interesting interpretation here... taxes are objectively worse than broken fiat, but relative to the population's expectations and knowledge, fiat is the bigger culprit
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This is why I asked the question. Good point. I still disagree but it gets us thinking doesn't it?
My thought is that if you eliminate fiat its dead forever because of bitcoin. And fiat is MUCH harder to fight than taxes.
Taxes are not invisible and if you take away the fiat tool to fund spending and special interests you take away a LOT of power from the state and its cronies. Then you have a situation where taxes will become more pressured as the source of funding things. People are far more likely to push back on that vs. the complex and largely invisible fiat system.
I will add though that one of the worst things about Democracy is how it clouds our thinking about taxes. Under a king people have no illusion what is happening. The King is levying taxes to do what he wants. Much easier to see that it is a forcible taking. Theft.
But we are propagandized to believe that WE are the government in a democracy(or whatever you think the US is). We the people and all that. How can the people steal from themselves? Unless you kill democracy and instead have a voluntary free society its gonna be hard to get rid of taxes.
This is why I don't think this question is an easy one.
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And another thing people have a hard time thinking through is that eliminating taxes doesn't mean you don't pay for services the state is now providing. Its just not gonna be theft.
Its not theft when I voluntarily pay for someone to take away my garbage. That is a fee for service.
Those of us who have studied some econ probably could agree that some things the government provides would be more expensive under a free system. But most if not all would be better and we'd have choice instead of fear of imprisonment.
Maybe the 2 are related?
Federal Reserve was created in 1913.
Income Tax amendment passed in 1913.
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For sure they are. But taxes weren't invented in the US nor was fiat.
I was meaning on earth too. Not the US alone.
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When did fiat start in USA?
1776?
1789?
1865?
1877?
1913?
1933?
1971?
Even during the gold standard, banks would issue notes for gold deposits but they were fractional.
A fiat system can work better without a central bank and without fractional reserve banking.
Currencies collapse because governments spend and waste tax dollars.
Fiat is imperfect like most things but taxation is worse
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Tru
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