Not So Merry Men
Robin Hood may have been a fictional character, but the thing that drove him and his “Merry Men” to become outlaws was real enough:
Oppressive laws.
Specifically, oppressive taxes.
At every turn, the Sheriff of Nottingham and his not-so-merry men would demand their pound of flesh. The only way Robin and his men could survive was to forget the law – and live outside the law.
It was an act of desperation and necessity.
This is happening again – to millions of American drivers.
None of them merry.
It starts with a ticket for a traffic offense – a pratfall that is becoming hard to avoid because of the profusion of offenses, most of them purely statutory (i.e., involving no harm to anyone) but subjecting the victim (i.e., the person waylaid by the armed government worker) to an extortionate tax. Calling it a “fine” doesn’t legitimate the taking-by-force of someone’s money who has not damaged anyone, for the benefit of the government – which is precisely what a tax is.
In California, the minimum fine/tax for failing to “buckle-up” (“failure to eat your veggies” is next) is $162 – and the fine for “improperly restraining a child under 16 is $465.
In Virginia, the fine for failing to come to a complete stop at a stop sign – even if there is no reason to come to a complete stop – is $200.
In the District of Columbia, the fine/tax for warming up your car longer than three minutes – yes, really – is $1,000 for a first offense.
And “reckless” driving – defined by statute in Virginia as anything faster than 80 MPH, even on a highway with a speed limit of 70 MPH – can entail $2,500 of literal highway robbery.
These are just a few of the many. And there are usually “processing fees” or “court costs” – secondary taxes laid on in addition to the primary tax. It gets into money.
The problem is that while the resources of the government are infinite, those of its victims are not. Many people simply can’t stand and deliver (this phrase was used by highwaymen in Europe back in the 1600s; it meant hand over your money; maybe it ought to be brought back into currency).
The much-plucked victims haven’t got many feathers left to pluck. They are already broke – or close to the edge of it.
Whatever they manage to earn is eaten up by other taxes -including the new Health Insurance tax – as well as the taxes on their food, gas and pretty much everything else. What remains is ravaged by the ongoing devaluation of currency (by issuing more of it) called “inflation,” which is really just another form of taxation.
Result? Millions of drivers no longer have hundreds or thousands of dollars available to just throw away on yet another tax – which is how they rightly regard this business. They have rent to pay, food to buy. If the choice is between paying the highwayman (plus “costs”) vs. making sure the kids will have a roof over their heads next month and food on their plates . . .well, the choice isn’t exactly easy.
But it is obvious.
They choose not to pay.
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