Con Men and True Believers

The flaw in the tax-denial movement is not that it's too radical but that it's not radical enough. The true believers in the movement think that if only the government would play by its own rules, tax justice would reign. (I suspect the sincerity of the leaders of the movement; hence the title of this post.) But this is balderdash. The government's rules are rigged in favor of power and against liberty. When government rules, such as the Constitution, can be interpreted in favor of liberty, they can just as easily be interpreted against it. Have you noticed that the Constitution hasn't stopped government from growing? That's the nature of rules. They can't interpret and enforce themselves, and those who get to interpret and enforce them officially are the people with an interest in maximizing power and minimizing liberty. (See this post for links to more on this topic.)

So beware whenever someone talks about the need for government to follow its own rules. There lies trouble.