This weekend I heard a quote on a movie that sticks in my mind. it went womething like this:
"humans are the only creatures that profess a god, and the only one that acts like it doesn't have one, using up the world as if its all theirs."
Coincidentally, a new book has been published that provides a more reasoned description of our behavior. In "Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty", authors Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson present the idea that a country's power structure is designed to extract resources from its masses.
Why stop with natural resources? Why not squeeze me and my neighbors for as much as you can too? Uhmm, let's see: I pay 8% in sales tax, 28% in federal income tax, another 4% in local income tax, 3% in gross profits/business privilege tax, and 2% in county earned income tax. Additionally, each year I pay $6000+ in licensing fees and business registration fees, $5995 in professional (E&O) insurance (required by the laws of the states I practice in), and $7000+ in health insurance (also required by my home state). Let's see, the gas I purchase to get from job to job includes anywhere from 30 to 60 cents per gallon in taxes. The one most private spot on the face of this earth, my home, is subject to $4550 property tax per year, and "the church" and the cops have invaded it at least a dozen times in the last year, each time under the false/fictitious claim that I owe them even a minute of my time, or that they can enter upon my property whenever THEY see fit, or that this most private sanctuary of mine is their backyard through-route to a neighbor's house or their religious preaching place.
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