You would think the government would realise that Greeks don’t like taxes and they don’t want to pay taxes so why are they forced to pay?
Why are people who don’t want services from the state forced to pay money to the state?
The figure of 30% of GDP being unrecorded in Greece is constantly brought up.
How the government can think it can possibly calculate something that is unrecorded is beyond me.
Athens News did a long editorial on alleged tax evasion in Greece, it covered the usual areas.
Basically people not paying all the tax they should and how it is supposed to be such a big “problem”
But the article misses one critical issue.
If people clearly do not want to pay taxes, why are they being forced to?
If people are not paying all the tax they should then it obviously means that they do not want the services provided by the government.
Why does the Greek government have the monopoly on forcing people to buy services they do not want?
And not only do people not want the services offered by the government, even if they did purchase the government services they would not just be worse off, but a lot of businesses would have to close.
However there is no balance to the issue of tax evasion in the media anywhere in the English-speaking world that I have seen.
Never have I seen the mainstream media ask why people and businesses are forced to pay for something they do not want.
It is always reported that people are simply criminals if they do not buy a service they do not want.
There is no mention of another institution that forces people to pay for services they do not want. The other “institution” is organised crime and as the name suggests. they are criminals for forcing people to buy services they do not want or do not need.
Why are governments treated any differently from criminals?
It is not like governments represent democracy. If they did taxes would be democratic ie voluntary.
Governments can only do force people to do things they do not want to do with the threat of physical violence, again, like the mafia.
So let us not fool ourselves in any way in saying that taxes are a crucial part of democracy they are not, unless of course the taxes are voluntary. Then people would be paying governments the amount they think the government deserved which sounds like a much fairer system, don’t you agree?
Some people argue large corporations and big companies should pay tax because they get the benefits of operating in the country which obviously creates an environment where they can thrive and make money.
To judge this argument you first have to determine how exactly has the government created a pro business environment?
If you believe media stories about creating successful economies where businesses can thrive, journalists talk about reducing regulations and low taxes.
Both these things involve the government doing less, not more. If you follow the argument to its logical conclusion then if a government did nothing in the business area then that would be the best situation for business.
Until the Greek government starts questioning why people do not want the services it offers the taxes will always be oppressive, the taxes will always be unfair and the taxes will continue to hold back the economy.
But it is not just Greece where governments can compel you to pay for something against your will with physical violence, it is an endemic problem throughout the world.
Until government revenues are connected to the quality of the services they offer, governments will continue to be unaccountable to the electorate and government will continue to act against the best interests of the electorate, intentionally or unintentionally.
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