Apr
16
Federal and state income tax returns are due tomorrow for most of us in the U.S. Jesus has told us that we must ‘render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s’ [Matthew 22:21]. I think it’s a good time to talk about Charles Adams’ book For Good and Evil: The Impact of Taxes on the Course of Civilization (Lanham, MD: Madison Books, 1993). Adams is a former tax attorney turned author and college professor who has written a number of books over the last twenty or so years about the history and philosophy of taxation. For Good and Evil is his attempt to write a history of taxation, beginning with the three roots of modern Western civilization–ancient Greece, Rome and Israel. Adams’ thesis is that behind most of the great events of history–the rise and decline of empires, liberty and slavery and war–is a tax story.
Most interesting is his sweep through biblical history highlighting the tax issues that are clearly evident in the texts themselves. Also, his chapters on ‘The Rocky Road of Early American Taxation’ shed light on the colonists’ struggle with Britain (and Britain’s rather reasonable case that the taxes they sought to collect in America were modest and were to be spent entirely in the colonies for their benefit and security) and the War Between the States (why tariff and tax collections trumped states’ rights and slavery as reasons to load the cannons) are worth the price of the book. The book’s final section, ‘The Monster That Laid the Golden Egg’ tells the story of how modern American and European governments discovered and clumsily implemented the most lucrative and powerful means of taxation in world history–the income tax. Much of it will make you angry, especially if you carry English or Celtic blood in your veins.
No matter where you stand politically, no matter whether you think you pay too much or not enough in taxes, For Good and Evil provides a compelling, witty tour of the history of taxation. I think of Alexander Pope’s couplet from the 18th century: Who ever hopes a faultless Tax to see /Hopes what ne’er was , is not, and ne’er will be.
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