Do you believe that the creation of a standard tax system is one of the main reasons society has advanced?

Question

I'm currently taking a class on Tudor-Stuart England and I learned that during this period there was no standard tax and the king would only ask Parliament for a tax when he needed to fund a war or something like that.

Well I was sitting in class today I realized that a tax system is the only reason we have things like defense, roads, medical care, transportation, etc. on a wide scale. If it weren't for a standard tax system that collects taxes annually then we would have to get these things after we realize we needed them instead of prior to that realization or maybe we wouldn't even get them at all and some places would be much more advanced then others.

The many modern amenities that we have are thanks to funds which are collected through Taxes. Is it reasonable to argue that one big reason for collective societal advancement is due to a standard tax system?

simplicitus · Accepted Answer

Reasonable to argue? Yes.

True? Not clear.

It is true that without a regular sourcing of funding, governments could not provide the goods and services it does and that we value. (Though why you left out education and the justice system I don't understand. Nor do I understand what you mean by "transportation" in addition to "roads".)

But is having governments an advance?

- In the U.S. you have the libertarian crazies that want to eliminate government and cry "taxation is theft".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxation_as_theft

- Then there are others who argue that the whole idea of a large society is fundamentally bad; we should have stuck with small tribes of hunter-gatherers
http://www.mnforsustain.org/food_ag_worst_mistake_diamond_j.htm

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Do you believe that the creation of a standard tax system is one of the main reasons society has advanced?

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