Pure Transaction
I’ve been thinking a lot about banks, taxes and the “economy” recently. Here is a foundational idea that is forming.
Goods (and services) only come from raw materials and labor. There’s no way around it. Someone has to do the work.
A pure transaction between two humans, for example: Harward Farms hauls a bed full of corn to the street corner. I pull up, pick out a dozen ears, and pay in cash.
Still not completely pure. If I pulled up and traded materials that I had produced by the labor of my own hand, that would be a pure transaction. It is the most honest transaction. Barter. How did I get so far from barter?
A transaction is sullied by government interference: the corn is poisoned by property taxes (if they are improperly used), income taxes, business debt (ie interest) or over-regulation for example.
Everything I buy is poisoned by taxes. The more hands get into the process, the more sullied the transaction becomes.
Another Idea: some taxes are OK. Some are pure and have a good purpose and are needed. But that’s not what we have in the US.
This, and many other heretical notions (such as “Banks are not Helpful”) are flying around inside my head. The sheep has stopped chewing the grass and is now looking around… at the shears, the slaughterhouse, and between cracks in the fence.
I am very optimistic. A tree grows slowly. A fever takes a long night to break. But the rays of dawn are creeping over the world.
Disclaimer: I am NOT encouraging people to avoid or evade taxes. Let your bonds chafe you.