Author's Statement

Power, Not Votes

The Tax Objection project proposes a paradigm shift in how we think about democracy, focusing more on the effective exercise of power and control by citizens rather than on the illusion of voting.

While voting is necessary for decision-making in a democracy, it's crucial to understand that the citizen's vote is not power in itself, but the illusion of it. The only power of a vote is to elect the next ruler or manipulator, which in many places is effectively the right to choose your own executioners. The vote, frequently manipulated and exploited in a variety of ways, does not empower the people but rather the person elected, who is legitimized by this formality and is free to distance himself or disengage once his purpose is achieved. This is the story of the eternal fraud that has haunted representative democracy since its birth over two millennia ago.

To speak of real democracy, we must speak of power, not votes, because power is not wielded through the ballot but through arms, money, and media. With these three, or even fewer, the necessary votes can be secured, although sometimes only the first of these, arms, is needed to achieve absolute power, sweeping away all constitutional order and ignoring the popular will, no matter how many ballots have been cast.

Proposal

The Tax Objection proposal is not about rejecting representative democracy, nor does it advocate for a system of pure direct democracy. Instead, it aims to grant the people greater power by strengthening the fiscal pillar, a kind of new tax democracy. In it, citizens don’t "pay taxes" to the State in the traditional sense; rather, they contribute to the state (and its officials) in the form of a forgivable loan, and they have the ability to object to the allocation of their contributions, exercising a new right to tax objection and direct oversight.

Not a Right to Evade

The right to tax objection should not be confused with a right not to pay taxes. It is, instead, the right to ensure that contributed money cannot be used for specific allocations or purposes deemed immoral, clearly objectionable, susceptible to corruption, or detrimental to the taxpayer. In its most basic form, it's also an extension of conscientious objection to the contributive sphere, though its scope can be much broader, and it is completely transversal: it benefits and protects anyone across the political spectrum.

Clear Limits

Tax objection opens the door to a new system of citizen participation and control, whose limits must be clearly defined and regulated by law or constitution. This ensures a balance between citizen power and State authority, preventing obstruction of essential governmental functions. Therefore, the aim is not to create an unlimited right, susceptible to abuse and capable of boycotting/sabotaging all state or government initiatives. On the contrary, it must have a solid framework for implementation, scope, and limitations. The financing of the judiciary, the decisions of judges, and order guaranteed by the security forces are examples of institutions that cannot be subject to tax objections.

Not With My Money

This right is summarized in the proposed phrase: "My pocket, my decision," and similar ones like "They won't use my money for that," "I won't sponsor that white elephant," or "Not a penny for your enrichment." Today, uttering such objections is useless because there's no way to exercise or materialize them. The money citizens sweat to earn costs politicians nothing to squander; taxed money is lost money, and this is immensely immoral.

Tax Objection puts forth this mechanism as a means to end this age-old abuse, which must end. Time will pass and we’ll look back, wondering: Years ago, people won the right to something as sensitive as aborting their children, yet they didn't have the right to object to the allocation and use of their taxes, to decide where their money wouldn't go? Unbelievable.

The mechanisms for exercising the right to tax objection would be minimally bureaucratic. Details and procedures will be laid out in future articles and in the full proposal.

If these ideas speak to you, learn more and join the movement.

Now!