I appreciate this discussion, we agree on more than we disagree, and mostly a matter of emphasis.
Putting on my thinking cap (tm), it appears most revolutions, large and small, violent and non violent have begun over an issue of taxes. There may be other related issues, but the focal point has been taxes.
The Boston tea party didn’t start with the tea in the water. It was an isolated incident with a lot of incidents prior to it and after it that we don’t think about.
There were many other taxes and regulations the colonists accepted, but for some reason the tea tax stuck in their craw, maybe because they drank tea every day and maybe the way the tax was assessed but it was in their face. My history memory of this is that (I am willing to be corrected) people avoided the tax (they were dishonest) and refused to pay it. They started drinking coffee as their personal rebellion? Coffee did not come on British ship but maybe other ships so couldn’t be regulated. As the tax revenue dropped the British became more forceful in their collection of taxes, stopping other ships with coffee from trading. Making examples of those that did not pay the tax by destroying their business. They probably had posters/propaganda such as “This establishment supports the King, drink more tea.”
My point being that the people are not accepting this use tax as evidenced by comments in this thread. Revolution starts with not paying the tax. It may be a lawful tax (they all are).
Revolutions start with not paying taxes (intentional repetition). This use tax may be the straw for a lot of people. It may be the moment of history remembered for the revolution? It may depend on how burdensome the tax collection is.
My own prediction of this and I have posted before: The federal government is now receiving all your bank information and credit card information (obamas health care bill). This information will be shared with the states. A computer will sort through all this information and you will receive a bill itemizing all your out of state purchases with penalties and interest added on. A note will be attached stating if you don’t pay, a lien will be put on your property. If you don’t have anything, you will ignore it, if your do have something it will be taken away from you for the common good.
Not paying this tax is the only personal rebellion for many. It is not an issue of honesty and fairness as you project but it is an issue of liberty and freedom which trumps the other issues in my opinion.
I just don’t think that most people are “refusing to pay the use tax”, or that they are doing so in an act of rebellion. Most people simply don’t know it exists, and can’t be bothered to find out if they actually owe more money. And those that do know about it are mostly ignoring it because they CAN.
I think we are at a state where people feel like the law is what they can be FORCED to do, not what they feel morally obligated to follow. OK, that is too black-and-white; people don’t murder because they know it is wrong, for example, not simply because they are afraid of getting caught.
But look at a typical riot. A mass of people get together, and suddenly they are burning cars, smashing windows, beating people up, and looting stores. Why? Is it because they are rebelling against stupid laws that don’t allow them to burn cars? Is it because they are compelled by circumstance?
I don’t think so. I think it’s that they can get away with it. This is a depressing thought, because it suggests that there are a good number of people out there who only “behave” because they are afraid of getting caught, and that when they learn we don’t have enough police, they will simply break the law.
Most all of us break the speed limit, at least on superhighways. We wouldn’t if we were guaranteed to get caught, but we know we get away with it, and we mostly disrespect the limit anyway (especially since the federal government imposed 55 mph for totally non-safety purposes, thus removing the moral imperative many people felt to “keep safe”).
I’m not saying it is a slippery slope from there on. But at some point, it seems we did drop over the precipice. I think if the feds didn’t have their own copy of most of our transactions, a sizable minority would refuse to pay any income tax. I think if there was no sales tax collection, few people would file to pay it.
And I think if people could get away with stealing things from stores, millions would. And they’d justify it — “Well, the democrats tell us corporations are evil, and they make too much profit, and they are ripping us off; I’m just getting back what they stole from me in high prices”.