Topic: Barbarians vs Tax Collectors

[Libertas]

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/guest-post-all-transactions-be-conducted-presence-tax-collector

Interesting post, I guess we are well down the road of limited options, eh?

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/guest-post-all-transactions-be-conducted-presence-tax-collector

 

[charlesoakwood]

Under such a debilitating regime, both rich and poor wished dearly that the barbarian hordes would deliver them from the burden of Roman taxation.  Zosimus, ..., [said] that "as a result of this exaction of taxes, ... all... sought the help of the barbarians."

Many Roman peasants even fought alongside their invaders, as was the case when Balkan miners defected to the Visigoths en masse in 378. Others simply vacated the Empire altogether.

At least y'all have Canada.

[AlanS]

That leaves the old tried and true options-- direct confiscation from the people through debilitating taxes and capital controls, and indirect confiscation through painfully higher inflation.

Like the 5th century Romans before us, people may be ready to abandon civilization itself to escape the burdens placed on them by today's ruling class. Only, by the time this happens, it may be too late to start doing anything about it.

Every day it becomes harder to take actionable steps towards safeguarding freedom. It becomes harder to open a foreign bank account, to move and store gold abroad, to purchase firearms... even to travel abroad or renounce your citizenship.

It has to be an omen.

[Pandora]

That leaves the old tried and true options-- direct confiscation from the people through debilitating taxes and capital controls, and indirect confiscation through painfully higher inflation.

Like the 5th century Romans before us, people may be ready to abandon civilization itself to escape the burdens placed on them by today's ruling class. Only, by the time this happens, it may be too late to start doing anything about it.

Every day it becomes harder to take actionable steps towards safeguarding freedom. It becomes harder to open a foreign bank account, to move and store gold abroad, to purchase firearms... even to travel abroad or renounce your citizenship.

It has to be an omen.

Half a billion dollars transferred from Obamacare's HHS slush fund to the IRS for hiring and implementation; they're going to crawl all over tax returns.  At the same time, IRS issues a new "regulation" mandating that "tax arrears", by their definition, and without them filing a lien, allows passport confiscation.

You tell me.