ABSTRACT
The Encyclopedia Britannica defines taxation as "that part of the revenues of a state which is obtained by the compulsory dues and charges upon its subjects". Complete objectivity is precluded when an ethical postulate is the major premise of an argument and a discussion of the nature of taxation cannot exclude values. A historical study of taxation leads inevitably to loot, tribute, ransom–the economic purposes of conquest. Taxation has forced the individually owned and congenial grog-shop to give way to the palatial bar under mortgage to the brewery or distillery. Direct taxation has been advocated since colonial times, as the necessary implementation of democracy, as the essential instrument of "leveling". Generally speaking, the evolution of political exploitation follows a fixed pattern: hit-and-run robbery, regular tribute, slavery, rent-collections. Taxation's final claim to rectitude is an ability-to-pay formula, and this turns out to be a case of too much protesting.
