Taxed to death

At the dawn of their existence on Earth, humans - driven by the need for food and other essential resources — began to collaborate, a process that initially manifested in the simplest yet most sustainable socio-political structures known to history: bands. The egalitarian and decentralised polity, along with subsistence- and barter-based economies, made each member's efforts within the band central to security and survival against threats from nature and invasions.

However, as societies marched toward political centralisation and complexities — such as pastoralism, horticulture, agriculture, industry and knowledge — so did the terms of socio-political and economic engagement between the rulers and the ruled.

The resultant managerial complexities and need for collective welfare required significant capital investment in the name of taxes collected from the subjects. Thus, taxes are ideally meant to benefit the very people from whom they are collected, with their amount reflecting the efficiency of service delivery and the potential for public prosperity.

Societies with a relatively transparent, legitimate and accountable contract between the rulers and the ruled collect and utilise taxes and public resources for inclusive prosperity.

The prosperity of people in developed parts of the world is both a cause and a manifestation of legitimate and competent leadership, a realistic strategic culture, transparency and the rule of law. In contrast, those operating in obscurantism exhibit extractive taxation and employ Orwellian and Machiavellian methods to reinforce encroachment and vested interests over their populations, with our society being no exception.

This is manifested in the disproportionate and seemingly irreconcilable divides across political, social, economic, nutritional, healthcare and legal domains between the public and the privileged elite: the civil, military bureaucracy, judiciary, clergy, media, capitalist and corporate elites, political dynasties and others who abet and benefit from the capture. Notably, this elite group accords itself tax exemptions and free, steady access to services, while the public exclusively bears a disproportionate tax burden without commensurate benefits.

To add to the divide, the architects and abettors of the current hybrid dispensation have astronomically increased their perks and reduced taxes on luxury items exporters and retailers, while exorbitantly overburdening and taxing the public, particularly the middle and salaried classes, to death.

One might rightly question the rationale behind, and the veracity of, the oft-claimed and practiced disparity, as well as the lending institutions' purported antipathy toward the poor, working and salaried classes.

Just look at the differential reliefs and taxes on luxury vehicles, motorbikes and vegetable oil, and you will no longer be surprised by the status quo's self-sustaining efforts — deliberately pushing the salaried, and middle classes to struggle at the bottom of Maslow's pyramid, and the farmer and labouring classes even below it.

Interestingly enough, despite being unjustifiably taxed, people are neither healthy nor educated, neither well-nourished nor secure. Instead, most taxpayers are forced to purchase — at lavish prices — private healthcare, education, security, and utilities, often owned and operated by the very elites who collect taxes under the promise of delivering these services. This justifies the deliberate deterioration of the delivery of public services and the erosion of public institutions.

Today, people are dying from starvation, lawlessness, disease, injustice and poverty, while the incumbent extension of the status quo has, of its own accord, mandated itself — regardless of the cost — to ensure its own survival.

The media, journalists and writers, bar councils, press clubs and any other perceived or potential threats have all been coerced or lured as peer beneficiaries feasting on the public agonies. Meanwhile, the superior judiciary ensures that the aggrieved public is left to await divine justice.