Agorism; How To Become Free in an Unfree World

Part 1: Pre-Agorist Days

If I said I became an agorist for moral reasons, that might be stretching the truth. Yet, sometimes, perceived injustice may lead in the right direction.

Behold, the Agora! Voluntary, Free Exchange...

Photo courtesy of Juan ignacio Tapia and http://unsplash.com

When I first began to create things of value, I wondered how to avoid the omnipresence of taxation.

I had grown up in America in the 1950's, living my early years in a pre-sales tax New York State. That price tag you saw? It was exactly the amount you paid, imagine that!

Like a frog in a warming pot, I was insensitive to the oppressive encroachment of taxes and regulations. For the typical young family, the federal tax system seemed to be a positive thing. Fill out your tax form and discover you have an "earned income credit." You actually end up getting more money back than you put in!

But try creating something new and valuable, and you'll soon find that the tax man is out to get you.

It was the mid 1970s, the outset of the computer revolution. I wrote and began selling several computer software titles by mail order. It soon became clear; this would be a losing proposition if the government got all they wanted. I began itemizing and digging for every deduction possible.

To my frustration, the software biz never quite "took off" for me, and I found myself back in the workforce. My employers somehow seemed to believe it was OK to withhold part of my wage and hand it over to the government. "Oh, you want his money? Here you go!"

Decades of suffering ensued.

I groaned under the tax burden, but found little or no sympathy or remedy. It seemed so unjust, but I kept on hearing (even from the pulpit) that this was "the price of civilization." They said I "owed" taxes as a debt to the government.

Not much changed until one day I began to get wind of the truth. I stumbled across the "patriot movement," which led me to some of the pioneers of "Tax Honesty."

Attending a meeting conducted by The Free Enterprise Society, I learned that (despite the maze of complex and confusing laws)

I didn't owe the government anything.

But, knowing something to be true, and acting on that knowledge, turned out to be very different things.

Next Time - Part 2: Tax Honesty

CLICK HERE FOR Part 2

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About This Series

I'll be telling more of the story of my journey to voluntaryism than I've told anywhere before. I intend to include some strategies and examples, and hope to inspire you to action.

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