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30 sats \ 3 replies \ @Undisciplined 12 Aug \ on: Harry Truman: Founding Father of the National Security State econ
I'd actually be very interested in some sort of linguistic history of what taxes were called. I think it's much more complicated than the simplified and calculated story in the piece (which is clearly not meant to be taken completely literally).
My guess is that early taxes were called "tribute", or something like that, and were distinguished from "plunder". Much like the modern mafia, early rulers would have offered protection from outside looters, with the understanding that payment for this service wasn't optional and that those looters weren't the only threat.
Yes, there were plenty of words to describe what the take in a robbery was. I can recall booty, loot, spoils, stolen goods, and plunder and if it was from a loan vigorish. I think it was Rothbard that said something to the effect that the state was only the strongest gang.
I also think that there is probably a rich history of words that mean the same or close to the same for taxes, because that racket has been going on for a long time. I just wonder who introduced it to us. Isn’t the first case of tax called tithe?
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Tithe is a good example of what I mean. It's maybe a little bit in between and not always obvious if it's freely given or not.
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If you have ever belonged to a church, you may have felt the pressure of the tithe. There is a lot of pressure applied by saying that it is your obligation to God to make the tithe because God said so, read it in the Bible yourself! There seem to be a lot of levels of deception involved in it, just like taxes and tributes.
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