Dr. Martin Hash Podcast

Taxation is a tricky subject because it's so personal & the reasons for taxation are so confused. In a Liberty society, people should benefit from their actions & circumstances, even if it is mostly luck, because virtual lottery tickets are property rights. On the flip side, redistribution of lucky wealth is mandatory to maintain a viable society, though not for the usual reasons claimed by socialists. Liberty requires opportunity, and opportunity is primarily a function of wealth. We shouldn't take money from those who have it out of some misplaced sense of fairness or equality; no, the purpose of taxes is instead to increase the liberty of everyone else, because the most opportunity to the most people provides the most liberty to the most people.

The Rich essentially horde opportunity by controlling a huge proportion of the wealth, 40% owned by 1%, with some “trickling down” to the rest of us. High tax rates on high income would discourage high income earners from taking as much, leaving more for everyone else, creating an ever-larger Middle Class. Inheritance Tax also fuels the Middle Class for the same reason that it redistributes wealth. Interestingly, reduced taxation also increases liberty if we eliminate taxes that subsidize The Rich, called regressive taxes, like Sales Tax, and Payroll tax. If people understood the primary function of taxes, to redistribute liberty, then choices of what is taxed & how much would be obvious.