My mom always told me that I don't have to go to church, I get to. She'd further say that there are only two things I have to do: die and pay taxes.In this most recent bid to borrow ~$6k from each and every tax payer to stimulate the economy, I'm wondering what happens if we just quit paying taxes.
What if on March 1st, every American alive fixed their tax forms at work so that no taxes were removed. Those that don't work for someone can just quit paying taxes. I'd strongly advise getting any return you have coming before doing so.
What would happen? Would there be any bad consequences to you personally? And don't say the IRS would come throw you in prison. If no one paid their taxes, the IRS couldn't afford to do so. They are almost $11 trillion dollars in debt.
I can guarantee you it would stimulate my economic package. The 5% pay cut I just got would turn into a 20% pay increase. I'd definitely buy more. The state of Texas which relies on sales tax would benefit.
It seems like the only organizations that would detriment from such a move would be the central government and all the billionaires they are giving their stimulus to.
So do you get paid in Euros? A 20% increase of -0- is still zero. If the government goes insolvent 'cause everyone refuses to pay taxes (and all the foreign debt-holders call in the debt), your US dollars will be worth about as much as a Zimbabwean dollar (they recently introduced a Z$100 trillion note). As long as your paycheck is based on a currency backed by the federal gov't, you've got a vested interested in keeping them afloat.
ReplyDeleteIt's a big, bad, complicated economic world out there....
I honestly don't know how I feel about that. If I have a vested interest in keeping the fed afloat then I feel less useful than I did yesterday.
ReplyDeleteI guess I'll have to read some economics books after I finish my history lesson.
Well, you could always try to get your employer to pay you in commodities rather than cash.
ReplyDeleteLet's see, you're near Dallas, so the obvious local commodities would be oil, cotton, etc. Of course, then you have a secondary job of converting the commodities into food, shelter, beer, electricity, etc. via barter.
Alternatively, you can do something in-between, and get them to pay you in a commodity that's a little easier to convert, say precious metals. You still have to trade the gold for other stuff, but it is generally easier than dealing with several tons of cotton, 50 head of cattle, or a half-dozen child slaves (again, thinking of what you have available in TX).
Just a thought....
I live in Dallas, but I think my paychecks come from North Carolina. I think their pay checks from from Augsburg Germany. I'm all bartered out. If my pay checks came directly from Texas I probably wouldn't have had to accept the global pay cut. Texas hasn't exactly felt the crisis yet. I mean, people are still buying oil :).
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