Oh, it's doing things. Indoctrination and warehousing come to mind. Babysitting the wee ones so the parents can work an extra job and pay in more taxes.
And here's the real danger of direct taxation. If the government can tax income they control what you do with that income and they have an excuse to examine all of your personal and business dealings. If they don't like how you use your money they will tax you at a higher rate (by not allowing deductions) because of it. If they are allowed to tax your property they can control what you do with it and you have to allow their inspector onto your property so that it can be "assessed" to determine what you will pay. With both income and property taxes there is no way to control what you will pay. With sales taxes you can avoid feeding the enemy by not buying stuff, or not buying as much.