North Carolina taxing your labor - More than just "Skin in the Game". By Ken Morgan

I feel more like August Landmesser every year. He is the person in the photo that refused to give the Nazi salute. Confused,  I find myself at odds with the current crop of Republican politicians as they are changing the platform of the party. Of course, we all KNOW what to expect from the Democrats, taxation. Recently, I was told that I "just don't get it" by a prominent Republican in our district because of my opposition to the taxing of labor in the new NC budget. These legislators ran on the platform of reducing the size of government, lowering taxes, making government less intrusive, etc. The usual Republican propaganda. What has happened with this budget is the equivalent of moving chairs around in a room and telling us how wonderful things are now that the chairs are in different places. The government is bigger and now (because of this budget) more intrusive than ever. Republicans are selling the idea that we need to move to into consumption tax and eliminate the income tax. Many North Carolina citizens remain unconvinced of this proposition.  The current Republican leadership appears not to want any opposition or dissent in their ranks.  This article is an attempt to explain reasons why citizens of North Carolina should oppose the taxation of labor. Thirty years ago most folks in the Republican party intuitively understood the immortality of taxing labor. The current  Republicans leadership does not seem to understand classical liberalism or what we now call "Libertarian" concepts. The party no longer has a soul since it no longer embraces the fundamental principles of the Rands,  the Buckleys and the Goldwaters of a previous generation. So, this why a quiet man living on the economic edge of what was once middle-class has decided to write my thoughts on the immortality of taxing labor.


 The reason I am against the taxation of labor is a moral one. The question of morality when discussing taxes may seem strange to some folks, but morality is at the foundation of our rights granted to us by God and written in the Constitution. One of Elizabeth Warren's main themes is "you did not build that". It is a justification socialists use to promote their agenda of an all-encompassing state. The justification is that if you build a product it is not the fruit of your labors as you used the state's resources (infrastructure, roads, etc.) to make your product. Such is the thinking of the all-powerful state. The all mighty state let you use it. As a civilization, we allowed the state to tax us in many ways over the years. Most taxes are of tangible goods and personal property. Subject to what Austrian economists call "indirect taxation." In principle, as the framers of the Constitution realized, the direct tax is most vicious since it directly denies the sanctity of private property. The indirect tax is a backhanded recognition of the right of the individual to his earnings. But even this wasn't imposed until World War I to pay the war to end all wars, and it was considered temporary at the time. Just like the phase from Orwell's Animal Farm " Each according to his abilities and each according to his needs."  So, the state sneaks up on the owner, so to speak, and takes what it needs on the grounds of necessity. The direct tax boldly and unashamedly proclaims the prior right of the state to all property. Private ownership becomes a temporary and revocable stewardship. Just as socialists claim all property belongs to the state, they also claim all money belongs to the state. I contend all money and property belong to the people, as it originates with their labors. The little part in the Constitution about personal property rights.  Now, let's get to the taxation of labor. Labor is not only YOUR property but the spirit of God-given talent deep inside your soul. It is your outward manifestation of your spirit.  Is it not? Taxing labor is a direct tax as any Austrian economist would say. Directly taxing labor is the state declaring that your labor belongs to them and that they will get paid a portion when you work. Not only will you become a forced tax collector for the state, but with this Republican plan the state will also make you charge a percentage to the person you bill for YOUR labor. This tax is the fee the person pays the state to lend your labor out. It does not matter if it is one penny on the dollar or one penny per thousand dollars. Morally, this is wrong. NOBODY owns your labor but you. Have we become indentured to the state?  In fact, this borders on Feudalism. I am sure Elizabeth Warren is proud of the Republicans for advancing her views, and Thomas Jefferson is probably rolling over in his grave. The Jeffersonian ideal of inalienable rights is liquidated and substituted for it is the Marxist concept of state supremacy.  Budgets such as this one, rather than an appeal to reason, or education,  is how socialism creeps up slowly until you get knock in the middle of the night.  The Individual no longer is a citizen but is a subject of the government. The new Republicans quote Jefferson but practice Hamilton. Quoting Jefferson gets votes and cheers. Let's face it. Jefferson lost, and we live in a Hamiltonian world. The new Republicans and their taxing of labor are proof. Borrowing a phrase from a famous Republican, whenever we tax something, we get less of it. When we tax labor, we discourage people from working. We reduce their incentives to work at the top and bottom of the income spectrum. It will also create an underground labor force.

So, in conclusion, taxing labor is morally wrong.

What's next? I am sure that this will die down, and people will accept it. I still won't get it in many people's eyes.  The all-powerful state usually wins, and I will keep on doing my August Landmesser impersonations.



If you would like to study this more, below are some references. None of this is new; I am just referencing basic Austrian economics that used to be commonplace. Ludwig Von Mises, Hayek, and Milton Friedman were all believers and greater thinkers than I will ever be.
Sources:
https://mises.org/
http://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/AustrianSchoolofEconomics.html
http://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/bios/Friedman.html
http://hayekcenter.org/
https://mises.org/library/taxation-robbery