Do the Amish Pay taxes?
I wanted to ponder this question for a while, but my impatience got the best of me and I looked it up. The short answer is yes. They have to pay income tax, sales tax, property taxes and everything else that we are all forced to cough up every day to legally exist. So what’s the point then? The Amish have to pay for the society that they willingly refuse at their own expense? It’s like paying for a hamburger just to watch someone else eat it. Although, it makes you wonder about the actual feasibility of leaving the matrix we call civilized society.
As far as we know, we are currently living in the most advanced civilization in human history. We are at the very peak and continue climbing scientifically and technologically. At the very same time, the constituents of this grand society are statistically more miserable than any generation before it. How can both be true? The human race has created an environment that satisfies all of our basic needs, and we couldn’t be more pissed-off about it. It appears that we, at some point in time, reached a pinnacle where productivity and happiness crossed into an inverse relationship. Now the more technologically advanced and comfortable we become the less fulfilled we actually turn out to be. Why don’t we escape this sedentary prison? Why can’t we give up the luxuries of the new age culture and go our own way? Why not leave the bureaucracy behind? If the Amish pay taxes… is it even possible?
Each of us can honestly say that we didn’t choose the society live in. It was quite literally forced upon us. The moment you are born in the USA you get your very own serial number stamped on your forehead, immediately creating a record of taxability and potential welfare. Most people call this a social security number, but I call it a personal SKU number designed to systematically track, tax and institutionalize every single one of us. This is the price of admission to legally engage in our country and its benefits. Obviously the US is not alone in this, every country has a method to document and archive their population. We even have a globally agreed upon system of passports, a PO number if you will, to permit entry into any recognized country on earth. Try to get around on this planet without a valid ID and you’ll realize the limits of a truly free individual.
This system of control was never optional. You must subject yourself to the laws of a nation; you must have proper identification; you must transact in the central bank derived currency; and you must pay the designated fees demanded by the state. If you refuse, you go to jail. We’ve been taking this waltz for so long that we forgot we were dancing. So many generations have accepted this way of life and we have completely forgotten that we used to live our whole lives without any utility bills, governments, or depreciating currencies. It seems so easy to escape and live off the land like our ancestors, choosing a random clearing in the woods to call our own. But where is this land? It seems like every square foot of dirt on this earth has been claimed by one country or another. Even if you purchase land, it’s only yours until you neglect to pay your property taxes. How remote must a man go to free himself from the restraints of civilization. I would imagine all the places on this planet still up for grabs are either untenable wastelands or ecosystems dominated by polar bears and alligators. Where can a hairless primate survive in the world without compensating an authoritarian entity. Humans are the only known species on this Earth who must pay to exist, every other animal just does it and no one asks why.
I refuse to believe that this our boundless future. Someday humanity will wake up and realize that we gave up too much freedom for security. People will eventually understand that technology has gone so far that it no longer liberates us, and actually suppresses us. We don’t have to reverse into the stone age and become tribal savages to take back our liberty. There is a sufficient level of technology that can provide enough comfort and reassurances without making us too content and lethargic. There is an adequate measure of centralized authority that can deliver security and utilities without overstepping to make life more difficult. We can take back this world and build a system that actually works for us. It’s about time we stop accepting the flawed society that we grew up with. We can govern ourselves; we can trade in our own currency; we can take whatever vacant land we want; build a home, family and community on it; create art and goods for each other; we can thrive and prosper motherfuckers!
The only thing holding us back is ourselves. We have convinced each other that the broken systems we hold together are essential and perpetual. Ordinary people built these bureaucracies, ordinary people keep them going, and someday ordinary people will disband them and be better for it. Everything eventually becomes history and its typically best to leave the crappy parts in the past.