what would happen if we all stopped paying?

Hi, thanks for having me. As you can probably tell from my heading I am against most authority figures.
I have worked all my life and achieved the monetary gains in doing so but some thing weird has begun to happen to me. I have always been spiritual but all of a sudden i find myself asking the question "what is the point?" I get up at 5 and turn on the lights in the house and then i shower, make my breakfast and head out to work. I start work at 8am and finish at &pm, i get home and then head out to the gym.
Now this is my issue i work 7 days a week to heat and light up my home, i work to put food on my table, i work to put fuel in my car to get to work, i work so that i can go on holiday. I work to pay taxes.
What would happen if the world said i have had enough and from now on i refuse to pay for a world that i was born in. I pay soon to be 17.5% VAT on all my goods, please tell me why? I pay inheritance tax if a loved one had left me some thing in their will, tell me why, especially when that loved one was taxed as well? Please tell me if the government consider a luxury to be doing well, why do they increase inflation on that product e.g alcohol?
Now lets look at our must haves to survive. My electricity and gas has increased in price by 200% and the pricing is based on a assumption. My food comes from the local supermarket who have considerable buying powers who absolutely rips off the hard working farmers and charge what they like, you probably ask why i go there? Its becaause they have took my local butchers and grocers out of business.
You are all probably thinking that i am a grumpy man, and where is this going? The truth is i am sick of paying all these taxes, i am sick of spending all my life at work just so the government can blow my money on what ever they want. I long for a world where money does not exist, where we all work for the good of each other. Economy is a big fat lie, its a word used to tax the pants off us.
Lets see how free we truly are when i start saying NO.

If we stopped paying taxes what could they do? They can't charge us all and throw us in jail.

Anyways welcome to ATS, hope you learn alot, and remember fight the system.

"....Breaking into Fort Knox stealing our intentions..."

Yes yes.

My only recommendation is go buy a motorhome or something of the sorts and work when needed for food. theres places in california where you can have your own land and grow food on it etc, hunt, live off the land.

No taxes? Well, the thought is appealing at first, but I am sure that the masses would start complaining when the infrastructure broke down.

Crime? Call the Police....oh, wait.......we stopped paying for them....
Oh, and all the criminals have been let out of jail.
The road collapsed? Too bad. No funds to fix it.
China just invaded? Too bad, no military
Your house is on fire? Too bad. No fire department.
Drowning? No coast guard.
Nobody doing a damned thing about it? Nope, you de-funded them - all the way up to the top.

etc. etc. etc.

Anarchy, like Communism, looks better on paper than it does in reality.

There are a lot of things wrong with the current system, but simply not paying taxes will benefit nobody.

I do see your point, but it really isn't viable.

Reply to post by Revolution-2012

Still have to pay property tax. Which means you'll need some sort of income. Which means income tax. Which means less income to pay that property tax so you'll have to get more income.

Inthe end you're back at that job doing what you've always done.

Of course this assumes you don't want to be a criminal.


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Reply to post by Badgered1

I have no need or desire for any of the things you list.

Only people who live with othe people would desire these dependence enforcing systems. All across the country there are people who live effectively in the middle of nowhere where for all intents and purposes there is no military or coast gaurs no police or fire dept.

But these people are forced to pay for your safety blankets. Fair?




Posted Via ATS Mobile: m.abovetopsecret.com

In America, we like to pay taxes. We pay in advance even. We pay more for more war machine. Next year, I will get a small refund. But I paid early and paid often for a better war machine. That is how we do it in America.

reply to post by thisguyrighthere


Actually, there is sovereign land in Humboldt that you don't have to pay anything for.

Reply to post by Revolution-2012

Could you elaborate on that? Maybe U2U me something I can check out when I'm not on a mobile device?


Posted Via ATS Mobile: m.abovetopsecret.com

What would happen? Hm.

It's kind of nice to drive on roads that are decent, and have some sense made of them through traffic signs and traffic lights. Might be a little on the chaotic side, otherwise, I'm guessing.

Really nice to be able to call the fire department when your house is on fire, or the police when someone is trying to break into your home in the middle of the night.

I prefer to go to an emergency room when I have broken a bone, rather than waiting on an appointment or trying to repair it myself. Don't know about you.

My city has lovely trees planted all around it, and blooming shrubs. It's pretty. I like that. We have a beautiful river here, with city parks all around it, which lead to a large University where I teach sometimes. I sure would miss the University. And all the public schools, too. Guess all the children would have to be home-schooled.

I'm glad the VA is there, to help our soldiers when they come home. And social security is nice for the older folks, and the disabled. Keeps them from piling up under the bridges, trying to catch a nap. Of course the bridges wouldn't be in very good shape either, I imagine.

If you lose your job, at least you can still eat with an unemployment check and food stamps, if you need to, until you can get back on your feet. Maybe keep your home for a while longer.

So yes, I guess I can't complain too much about taxes. I rather enjoy the services I take for granted every day, and know there are things in place to help me out for a while if things ever go really, really, way wrong.

But those of you who wish to avoid them, I guess you want the rest of us to keep these things up for you. I'm not in love with taxes either, but I know I'm better off with the things they pay for.

Reply to post by ladyinwaiting

Feel free to completely cut me off. I don't want anything to do with it. I opt-out. I'll never use a road never use the police never step foot in an emergency room never ask or beg for anything at all. No one will ever see me again.

Now where do I sign to opt out? Why are so many so compelled to keep me in this cult? For all of you to continue on with your splendor government just absolutely needs the portion it steals fromme? You'd never notice it if I stopped payng in and disappeard but I can't without being tossed in jail or taken out when they come to collect. Why? Why am I so important?


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reply to post by Badgered1

Crime? Call the Police....oh, wait.......we stopped paying for them....
Oh, and all the criminals have been let out of jail.
The road collapsed? Too bad. No funds to fix it.
China just invaded? Too bad, no military
Your house is on fire? Too bad. No fire department.
Drowning? No coast guard.
Nobody doing a damned thing about it? Nope, you de-funded them - all the way up to the top.

Crime: Shoot the murderers and rapists, legalize everything else.
Road collapse: Local economy will fix that.
China invades: Arm everybody. 340 million armed Americans and Canadians= lethal.
House on fire: Just be careful
Drowning: Darwin's law.

Anyway, everybody wouldn't have to pay so much taxes if there weren't so many unnecessary wars: Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan. Really, it's not our business.

Illegal big business bailouts, secret projects budget, these three take a majority slice of what we pay in taxes.

Originally posted by Badgered1
No taxes? Well, the thought is appealing at first, but I am sure that the masses would start complaining when the infrastructure broke down.

Crime? Call the Police....oh, wait.......we stopped paying for them....
Oh, and all the criminals have been let out of jail.
The road collapsed? Too bad. No funds to fix it.
China just invaded? Too bad, no military
Your house is on fire? Too bad. No fire department.
Drowning? No coast guard.
Nobody doing a damned thing about it? Nope, you de-funded them - all the way up to the top.

etc. etc. etc.

Anarchy, like Communism, looks better on paper than it does in reality.

There are a lot of things wrong with the current system, but simply not paying taxes will benefit nobody.

I do see your point, but it really isn't viable.

Ok first the majority of crime is due to the fact that they do not have the means to survive. We have been raised including myself in a "must have" culture. If we were raised in a way that encouraged us to conrtibute to society instead of taking there would be no need for police. Lets just say that i owned a 10 mile stretch of land on that land there were a group of people whose job was to farm the land and produce food for our society, we have engineers who repair machinery and install solar panels etc, we then have teachers who teach children about sprituality and personal growth, we allow the child to pick a role that would contribute to society. Whats to say that in this society we would not have a fire station. The main difference being that you will not need to worry about a mortgage as we helped build your home, you wont need to worry about buying food as we grew for you already, dont worry about water as it came from our fresh stream, always stay warm as i have free electricity going to your home.
To me this is eden, this is a world i want to live in, it may sound a little far fetched and i understand that there are plenty of loose ends but it is viable. You say its not because you are used to and programmed by this world like myself.

reply to post by thisguyrighthere


Then just disapear. You make no money, you pay no money.
Live off the land. But remember the "haves" and the "have nots".

With no taxes and no laws there is no one to arrest criminals, no one prosecute them and no prison to send them to. Charlie Manson and his ilk will be free as birds and will stop at nothing to "have" what you "have".

You would feel much more helpless than you do now, I suspect.

But there is a cut-off on taxes. If you make below a certain amount, you don't have to pay. But I'm not sure what that is.

Anyway, good luck. I get very aggravated also when I see how much I'm paying, especially when it's for things I don't want.....but I do it anyway.
It's the way my country is designed, and I want to continue to be a citizen here.

My heart is with you but I also prefer a country where we do have some services paid for by taxes. We do pay entirely too much and use way too much of it to finance military operations whether or not we are at "war".

Since we cannot finance a government without taxes I would be all for a flat tax rate on consumer goods. Same goes for income taxes but we shouldnt be taxed on the first $25,000 of our earnings. That would be close to a bare minimum for one person to survive on.

We certainly need to simplify the tax code so that anyone can understand it, that would be a good start.

reply to post by star in a jar


I do not believe that all is right in the world, but opting off the grid would get kinda lonely after a while. It's nice to have a broad range of people to interact with. If they are all staring at me down their telescopic sites from their bunkers it's a bit off-putting. Plus the conversation gets a bit tedious after a while (which canned food keeps longest, which calibre rifle kills deer best etc. - it's going to be a bit of a bummer when all the game is gone).

I wish you well in your quest for freedom. I really do.

Originally posted by ladyinwaiting
reply to post by thisguyrighthere

 

Then just disapear. You make no money, you pay no money.
Live off the land. But remember the "haves" and the "have nots".

With no taxes and no laws there is no one to arrest criminals, no one prosecute them and no prison to send them to. Charlie Manson and his ilk will be free as birds and will stop at nothing to "have" what you "have".

You would feel much more helpless than you do now, I suspect.

But there is a cut-off on taxes. If you make below a certain amount, you don't have to pay. But I'm not sure what that is.

Anyway, good luck. I get very aggravated also when I see how much I'm paying, especially when it's for things I don't want.....but I do it anyway.
It's the way my country is designed, and I want to continue to be a citizen here.

Have you not thought that your way of thinking is due to the fact that you were born into this heavly conditioned world. Please ask yourself a question, what would happen if you were born into a world where money never existed? Where the roles in society were chosen from a young age and they trained in that field. Some being builders, minors, farmers, engineers, doctors, scientists. They main focus is transparency and helping society, making sure that no one goes without, making sure that every person has a home and food in there belly. All that is asked is that you contribute within your chosen field.

reply to post by chrissylee


I think this exists in other parts of the world and it's called communism.

I hate paying taxes too. Truely I do, and I get very frustrated about it at times, as you guys are now.

But without taxes we would be thrown into complete chaos. I know I can't depend on myself for everything. I know I can't do everything it takes.
Maybe you can, but many of us can't. We need SERVICES. lol.

No taxes would destroy our civilization as we know it. Education and research would come to a stand still. We'd be back in the stone ages. I don't know how long it would take...but it would be inevitable.

What a JOKE

Stop paying ---- Go ahead They will take all you have

Do not doubt that I am there

If EVERYBODY did

NOT a chance of that. Good luck

reply to post by thisguyrighthere

I tried googling with no such luck....

I know a friend of mine used to live out on the land in Humboldt, not in the town quite a bit out from town but there was areas where people had their own free living arrangements, completely off the grid and it wasn't fought by housing authorities, city or state.

I do believe there is a limit to development out there, I think it's typically a mobile based community and everyone pretty much lives off the land.

I visited my friend out there for a week and had a blast, everyone was hippy and friendly, had their own farms etc. I can't find any links for it but when I get a chance I'll ask my friend when I talk to him.