Taxes = Slavery?
This from Dr. Walter Williams, noted conservative thinker.
Evil acts can be given an aura of moral legitimacy by noble-sounding socialistic expressions such as spreading the wealth, income redistribution or caring for the less fortunate. Let’s think about socialism.
Imagine there’s an elderly widow down the street from you. She has neither the strength to mow her lawn nor enough money to hire someone to do it. Here’s my question to you, and I’m almost afraid of the answer:
Would you support a government mandate that forces one of your neighbors to mow the lady’s lawn each week? If he failed to follow the government orders, would you approve of some kind of punishment ranging from house arrest and fines to imprisonment?
In Favor Of Slavery
I’m hoping that the average American would condemn such a government mandate because it would be a form of slavery, the forcible use of one person to serve the purposes of another.
Would there be the same condemnation if instead of the government forcing your neighbor to physically mow the widow’s lawn, the government forced him to give the lady $40 of his weekly earnings? That way the widow could hire someone to mow her lawn.
I’d say that there is little difference between the mandates. While the mandate’s mechanism differs, it is nonetheless the forcible use of one person to serve the purposes of another.
As a metaphor I think it’s a bit too strong. There are social and legal norms and we have varying punishments for violating them. Fart in an elevator and you get the evil eye. Speed and you get cited. Kill a cop and you may become a cause celebre for leftists if you include the words “oppression” and “racism” in your excuse.
So if you define slavery as “doing something I don’t want to do”, then this definition fits. Otherwise, it’s a metaphor and not much more.