What is this "taxation is theft" meme I read from american users on twitter?

[BackInTheGame78]

I got a letter from the government the other day...

I opened, and read it...it said they were suckers!

They wanted for their army or whatever...

Picture me giving a damn, I said "Never!"...

 

[Pandora]

If you've heard of Gary Webb, he's the "suicided" journalist who exposed the CIA selling crack to the inner cities during the 80's

Gary Webb on the CIA's Role in the 1980s LA Crack Epidemic - Citizen Truth

An explosive report from a relatively unknown journalist, Gary Webb, claimed the CIA helped foster the crack epidemic that ravaged Los Angeles in the 1980s.

citizentruth.org

Yes Gary Webb story is tragic and used to make me very angry. He was a very brave man and hero. The movie they made about him was awesome.

 

[taiyuu_otoko]

For 99.9% of human history we did fine without taxes.

The United States did fine without taxes until 1913.

All government expenses were paid for by tariffs before then.

 

[Pandora]

The United States did fine without taxes until 1913.

All government expenses were paid for by tariffs before then.

This is exactly right.

 

[BillyPilgrim]

The United States did fine without taxes until 1913.

All government expenses were paid for by tariffs before then.

But how can you ensure reimbursement for the expenses of financing WWI (1914) and the Communist Revolution (1917) without the Income Tax?

 

[BaronOfHair]

Is it related to the founding fathers and the revolution against britain?

This is similar to the late Vincent Bugliosi's book "The Prosecution Of George W Bush For Murder". A goverment levying irrational and unnecessary taxation that keeps many citizens broke may not qualify as "theft" in the classical sense, in the same way The White House launching an invasion of a foreign nation on transparently fallacious pretexts which results in millions of civilian deaths may not count as "murder", at least not in the way we typically think of that word

Both are living testament that once you get elected to the highest offices in the land, you needn't sweat committing a felony in public and before the cameras... Our judicial system will subject itself to remarkable feats of intellectual contortion, in their efforts to rationalize not sanctioning you, same way they would any ordinary citizen

 

[Millard Fillmore]

The United States did fine without taxes until 1913.

All government expenses were paid for by tariffs before then.

I had read that Lincoln enacted an income tax to pay for the Civil War. Maybe it was temporary.

In any case states and local governments still levied taxes before the federal income tax, no?

 

[taiyuu_otoko]

I had read that Lincoln enacted an income tax to pay for the Civil War. Maybe it was temporary.

In any case states and local governments still levied taxes before the federal income tax, no?

From investopedia:

The first personal income tax was imposed by Congress in 1861 in order to raise revenue for the Civil War. Congress repealed the tax in 1872. The idea was brought back in the 16th Amendment to the Constitution, which established Congress' right to impose a federal income tax. The amendment was passed by Congress in 1909, ratified by the states, and took effect on Feb. 25, 1913. That first year, less than 1% of the population paid income taxes. The rate: 1% of net income.1