A fascinating though monochromatic libertarian history of tax
policy from Babylon to Bibi Anderson, by a home-grown Will Durant
of the accounting profession. Adams (a Buffalo tax attorney)
explains the rise and fall of civilizations by the kinds of taxes
levied and the means used to collect them. In ancient Egypt, for
example, although the Pharoah's scribes taxed harvests, imports,
exports, domestic sales, and slaves - everything except income, the
tax on which is a modern innovation - only with tax immunity for
priests and a consequent perception of tax inequity did rebellion
and imperial collapse ensue. The Rosetta stone, like much of early
history, is seen by Adams as a tax record. Rome fell because the
egalitarian tax reforms of Emperor Julian were vitiated and finally
overturned by his greedy, arbitrary successors. The Moslem hordes
of the Middle Ages are seen as mild-mannered revenue agents, which
explains why Islam spread so widely before the world's first excise
tax unhinged its empire. Later, Enlightenment thinkers equated
liberty with tax consent and defined tax freedom as a "natural
right": The American Revolution codified that strain of thought,
and Adams holds to it here as well. In his final chapters, he
argues that post-WW II American tax policy replicates the errors of
the Romans and the scribes - including widespread antidemocratic
tax "spying" and taxation basically without consent - and he
predicts disaster if reform isn't forthcoming. Adams will annoy
liberals by not judging a tax on the merits of its use: He defines
a good tax as one that's accepted by its subjects and that promotes
industry and privacy. Out of step with current White House
thinking, then, but making points well worth considering. (Kirkus
Reviews)
The very word taxes sends shivers up spines. Yet, very few realize
the tremendous impact that taxation has had on civilization.
Charles Adams changes that in this fascinating history. Taxation,
says Mr. Adams, has been a catalyst of history, the powerful
influence if not the direct cause of many of the famous events of
history that have marched across the world's stage as empires
collided and battled for the right to tax the loser. For Good and
Evil is the first book to examine how taxation has been a key
factor in world events. Like the Rosetta Stone - a tax document -
the book sheds fresh light onto much of history. Did you know that
biblical Israel split after Solomon's death because his son refused
to cut taxes? That Rome rose to greatness due to a liberal tax
regime but declined under corrupt and inefficient ones? That in
Britain, Lady Godiva made her famous ride as a tax protest? That in
Switzerland William Tell shot the apple off his son's head as
punishment for tax resistance? Or that Fort Sumter, where the first
shots of the Civil War were fired, was a Customs House? Combining
facts with thought-provoking comment he frequently draws parallels
between tax events of the past and those of the present. Finding
fault with the way Western civilization is taxed, Adams provides
ideas for curing those faults by using the valuable lessons that
history has taught. The special value of this refreshing new look
at history lies in the lessons to be drawn by all thinking
taxpayers. "Taxes are the fuel that makes civilization run, but how
we tax and spend determines to a large extent whether we are
prosperous or poor, free or enslaved, and most importantly, good or
evil". Once you read ForGood and Evil, you'll never feel the same
about taxes!
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