Taxes are not a contractual obligation between the state and the individuals it governs. By definition, taxes are noncontractual debts in which the state is the creditor, and the payment of these debts is demanded through coercion and violence. While there may be taxes linked to the performance of certain economic activities (e.g., the sale of products), all forms of this economic policy share the characteristic of being indifferent to the consent of those individuals being governed. This implies that, akin to expropriations, the ownership of private assets is transferred to the state, regardless of whether their former owners have expressed consent or not.
In this brief text, some characteristics of taxes as an economic policy will be explained through analytical
Articles by Roberto Ledezma
Understanding Anti-Capitalist Fallacies
December 19, 2023The accusations against capitalism that we read not only from progressives but also conservatives are based upon fallacious thinking. It’s time to deal with these fallacies head on.
Original Article: Understanding Anti-Capitalist Fallacies
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December 7, 2023Capitalism, defined as a form of social organization in which there are means of production such as private property and wage labor, is not the moral principle upon which liberalism is based. The reason for this is that there are nonliberal scenarios that capitalism, as a moral principle, allows for—for example: slavery, sexism, racism, and various forms of violence.
However, semantic compatibility does not imply a causal relationship between such variables. In this brief text, I will explain why certain anticapitalist arguments have fallacious inferences, showing the semantic relationships between different concepts that constitute the political economy and other similar disciplines.
Fallacious Inferences and False Statements
Sound arguments are those that