Why Bonds Over Taxes?
The historical example of Renaissance Italy was fascinating to me: in order to pay for wars, city states forced their wealthier residents to buy bonds. Essentially, citizens were forced to pay more in taxes, but with the added bonus of receiving interest and their money back in the future. My question is quite simple: if a country can force its citizens to buy bonds, can it not force them to pay higher taxes instead?
Take the modern United States. The government could sell bonds in order to raise money in the short-term, sure. Why not instead, simply confiscate money and not pay it back? Do those with the wealth to pay money up front deserve to turn a profit, or even to be made whole, simply by the virtue of them having money in the first place? I think not. The idea that the state should be perpetually and explicitly indebted to private interests is, to me, quite bizarre. Any democratic government has the right and the obligation to collect by force the amount it sees necessary to fulfill its democratically determined functions. Our sacred cows of private property and free enterprise, however, dictate that the government must not simply take freely available money in taxes, but must instead ask politely for it and pay it back (plus interest) in a few years down the line. In other words, the government must give the money it has raised not to those who need it, but to those who "own" it. To hell with it, I say. A state in debt serves its creditors, not its people.
Take the modern United States. The government could sell bonds in order to raise money in the short-term, sure. Why not instead, simply confiscate money and not pay it back? Do those with the wealth to pay money up front deserve to turn a profit, or even to be made whole, simply by the virtue of them having money in the first place? I think not. The idea that the state should be perpetually and explicitly indebted to private interests is, to me, quite bizarre. Any democratic government has the right and the obligation to collect by force the amount it sees necessary to fulfill its democratically determined functions. Our sacred cows of private property and free enterprise, however, dictate that the government must not simply take freely available money in taxes, but must instead ask politely for it and pay it back (plus interest) in a few years down the line. In other words, the government must give the money it has raised not to those who need it, but to those who "own" it. To hell with it, I say. A state in debt serves its creditors, not its people.
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