I had the thought of, what happens if millions of Americans just stopped paying taxes as a form of protest? I can’t imagine the IRS could actually handle it.

  • Acamon@lemmy.world
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    2 hours ago

    I guess the issue with those types of actions is that it leads to consequences that the people currently in power would be happy with. If people can just stop paying taxes on mass when they don’t like the government it pretty much gives permission for it as a political protest from now on.

    I’m not saying that it is definitely a bad idea to give the public a veto on any government policy they don’t like, but it certainly promotes small government. Part of the point of government spending is spending money on things that some people don’t want, whether that’s ‘obamacare’ or the Pentagon. A government that was worried about avoiding any sizable tax strike would never be able to spend money on anyrhing but the most basic and widely accepted expenses. Even “law and order” which is often one of the few roles libertarians support spending on isn’t widely accepted anymore with ‘defund the police’.

    Secondly, although part of a strike or protest is about causing disruption as a stick to put pressure on agreeing to demands, part of it is also on performing “costly displays”. Posting memes may raise awareness for an issue, but its unlikely to sway people to your side as literally setting yourself on fire. One is easy, one is horrific, and when someone does something ‘costly’ it let’s people see how much this matters to them. And asking me to not pay my taxes isn’t a big ask, it benefits me (in the short term at least), while with a labour strike you are usually sacrificing pay to make a point, which shows how important it is to you.