Taxation is not slavery. Someone has to pay for even limited government, and government is an essential component of civilization. It all depends on where one draws the line between liberty and government, and I personally think the founders did a pretty good job with that (if only we’d return to something closer to our original constitutional republic).
Income tax on wages is slavery. Though only partial slavery.
Wealth tax is not slavery, it is theft.
Tariffs, sales tax and income tax on “unearned income” are not so much slavery.
“(if only we’d return to something closer to our original constitutional republic).”
Does that mean the Article V Constitutional Convention group can expect your supporting check soon?
Agreed. In our Republic, we have certain government functions that we need to pay for. I don’t have a problem with the concept, since I am not an anarchist.
The major problem many of us have as conservatives is what we are being forced to pay for, and how much we are forced to pay.
They way things work today, with a smaller and smaller portion of the population paying living expenses and monetary ‘benefits’ for a larger and larger portion of the population, characterizing taxation as slavery as you did, paladin2, gets closer to the reality than it should be.