It is nearing the end of the financial year. And those of you who do not make a living smuggling coke knows what that means. Tax forms. The annual tradition of bidding bye-bye to your hard earned cash. Some people think it is an unsystematic biased ad-hoc method of government sponsored mugging. Those people do not realize that it is actually a very systematic process.

To get clear understanding of the importance, necessity, and beauty of taxation and the benefits spun thereof, you would need to understand the history of this age old process. It is with a sense of duty and pride that I embark on this short discourse.


For countless centuries, governance was done almost exclusively through looting and plundering. If City A found itself short of funds or required territorial expansion, it would wage war on City B. The emperor and soldiers of City A would take money in the form of gold, diamonds, etc... from City B and celebrate their victory by drinking, dancing, and watching people kill each other for amusement, because, frankly, they did not get enough of it during the war. The drinking and dancing would continue till (continue reading)