Suppose we quit paying our taxes

       Suppose we can't pay our taxes?

            Now I think we in the USA presently have considerable tax collection means at all government levels, including federal, state, and local. And we have police forces and a legal system at all levels to enforce the present system in the USA.

            Even the assumptions when federal income taxes were instituted less than a century ago have turned out to be invalid today. Mostly the tax rates have increased considerably compared to the assumptions. For example, the proposed language in the federal amendment to cap the rate was rejected as absurd. The proposed language then was like around 2% federal income tax. Now the state and local income taxes came later, generally speaking.

            But suppose we can't borrow money anymore for whatever reasons evolve, and we have to live within our means, including not raising our taxes anymore. That's the idea behind this post. Call it trying to imagine its impact on you.

            The main impact on me is food, like to eat to live. Even during WWII, most of our USA farm raised food went to feed our soldiers overseas; and we often had to grow our own garden food in order to have enough to eat at home. These future days, suppose the grocery stores shelves are bare? Then what are we going to do?

            The second obvious impact on me is rationing, be it food, transportation (like fuel and tires), and health care. Now I expect many may try get exemptions because of their "important" positions.

            The third obvious impact on me is my ruling governments coming for me and my assets in order to exist, often just to keep the status quo going. After all they have Families and have to eat, too; and depend on using my taxes (really my work and property and the time to pay the taxes from my work and property) for their benefit. In this example, can you believe I am worrying about just protecting myself from my rulers, mostly in order to just live.

            Now often what these government people do does provide benefits for me, too. Think of pot hole repairs, and police and fire protection, for example. Now all rulers should have priorities. After all, if everything is a priority, then nothing is a priority.

            The fourth obvious impact on me is a probable change in government. This assumes we can still vote to influence our future. If that is denied to "we the people", then times like revolt, revolution, or civil war may happen to make the changes needed. It will be a confusing time, but we still will have to pay taxes, and of course we will still get old and die. Don't be surprised if fascism and dictatorships arise, too.

            The fifth obvious impact to me is losing public electricity.  Can you and I live without public electricity for extended periods of time, like even years? I have, by the way, and so can you.

            The sixth impact on me is death.  A lot of fellow citizens probably can't survive very well on their own from what I read. Throw in hard times; even throw in some mother nature type event, or even a war; and millions of people will have to die along the way. What a shame if the historians write that this was human caused in the end. While it could be a pandemic, for example, even that often has human caused starts to get it going. In this example, how much will our governments help us, or are we or our own to survive; for Ourselves, our Families, and our Friends?

            The seventh impact on me is the already happening decline of the "nation state" idea. After all it is a colonial administrative construct,  developed for its own reasons from our past. The alternatives are obvious, like tribes, where people have common interests. Think of Germany or Japan as examples. Think of the UN as expanding its number of nations. For example, Sri Lanka is basically two different groups of people forced into one nation-state by our ancestors. It probably should be two nations.

            The eighth obvious impact to me is human. I suspect natural things, like abortion, will trump politicians and their beliefs about abortion. But we can expand that, too. The obvious example is environmental impacts on we humans, and who best represents us.

            The last obvious impact is simply living within our means, wherever we live, be it urban or rural in the USA, or something in between. I suspect many may become more religious as a good solution to our perils, to even include the "golden rule" as an example. I also suspect many are already thinking this way.  The idea is advancing humanity, call it a mission statement if you will. And if that means a reduction in our standards of living for some decades, so be it.  I personally still seek to achieve a better life for my progeny. Happiness, generally stated as good health and self respect, is still a good goal.  And I will work towards that goal, to include infusing my progeny with that idea even after I die of old age, or for other things that happen to me.

PS   Impacts like long air travel delays are minor things in this post, though vastly inconvenient to those who suffer through it.