USA: Wrong Direction? By T.S. Khanna

Foundation for Better Government

USA: Wrong Direction?

By T.S. Khanna, September 16, 2016

We keep hearing that 47% of households pay no income tax and food stamp recipients are all time high, 45 million people.  National debt is piling up.  People sense and say that the country is going in the wrong direction.

Let’s take a look: two points seem to stand out:

In 1776, American revolutionists boldly proclaimed the heresy against the then government in power: “Taxation without representation is a tyranny, no taxation without representation.”  Ever since, all taxpayers have had their representation in the US government.

It may not be politically correct to say that the proclamation is also equally true in reverse order and in ascending/descending order.  Those who do not pay any tax must not have any representation; those who pay more tax may have greater representation than those who pay less.

It is also a tyranny when those who do not pay any tax may the power to decide for higher taxes on those who pay.  This is the wrong direction.

Second, for a government to flourish, it must financially depend on its people.  When people start depending on government, it is the wrong direction.  Government must act as facilitator, not as provider.  While charity and help for the helpless is an important humanitarian function, it belongs to the religious institutions, not to the government.  Government may encourage religious institutions to perform this function without taking over.