You Can Never Be Free When You Cannot Own

Hi Numberone,
I’m familiar with that site; what the city of Waltham has done is an abomination, never mind the outrageous cost to their tax cattle when it’s finally finished. I’ve been to retreats there, and our kids went to summer camp there, many years ago. Was a quiet, bucolic place for getting close to nature and now it’s gone forever; may a plague be on the heads of the city politicians.

Eric – your posit that property “taxes” are tantamount to collection of rents by the landlord of “last resort”, the Government, for “services” that are undefined, unaccountable, and perhaps not even wanted, is well-taken. Certainly the “Government”, by assuming this de facto role as “landlord”, has, in effect, seized ALL so-called “private” property, it simply permits its use (which is often subjected to unreasonable and capricious restrictions, a subject for another thread) as long as the “rent” is paid in a timely manner.

This also segues into another issue, that of “Eminent Domain”. It was first used to justify taking of lands for “publick” utilities such as highways and roads, and RAILROADS, on the theory of “public benefit”. Of course, this gave enormous potential for profit by outright banditry, as often lands stolen via the eminent domain process have been, once said highway or road is built, are sold to real estate developers. And never mind the history of railroads, who, like Ray Kroc of McDonald’s fame, realized at some point they weren’t really in their ostensible business, that of running a rail line, but the REAL ESTATE business, as such notable outfits as Southern Pacific (which spawned Sprint Communications) are some of the nation’s largest players. Nothing like that railroad “right of way”, made of property taken via seizure from their former owners, to make a fortune out of! But why should railroads “sop up all the gravy”? The most overt form of this government-sponsored theft was demonstrated with the Kelo SCOTUS decision, where that gaggle of nine magistrates ruled, that yes, a municipality could exercise Eminent Domain not merely for ostensibly “public” objectives like a sewage plant or freeway, but to foster “economic development” that would foster overall greater economic activity and increase tax (property and/or sales) tax revenues to said municipality. So, a “holdout”, especially some elderly person who simply wanted to live out their lives on THEIR property as they saw fit, could be robbed by their governments to benefit others. The message was simple: you hold “your” property at the SUFFERENCE of the PTB until “they” decide a “better” use for it, and be glad for what they deign to “compensate” you with. Who says “Feudalism” was part of Medieval history?

And, Eric, if the process of taking or infringing “private” property has, in effect, rendered it null and w/o protection of the law, then what of the INCOME tax? If the Government decrees that it has a legal right to your earnings as you acquire them, then, in effect, the 13th Amendment prohibiting “slavery” is also rendered null, as the question becomes merely to what percentage you’re working for the Government instead of yourself.

Yes, there will be those that say that taxes are a necessary evil, but they’re still ‘evil’. And why are they NECESSARY at all? What “services” does Government actually render that cannot also be provided in the private sector in a market economy? It seems that when this country got started, the involvement of Government at all levels was quite minimal compared to what we have. And yet our forefathers risked everything and fought His Majesty’s soldiers over the “Intolerable” Acts. Amazing what we “tolerate” these days.

Allodial titles did and do exist in Virginia. A property was recently sold on the James River with true Allodial title. It was also brought up in federal court in regard to a property here in Bent Mountain. This property was a land grant from the King and had been in the family continuously. The pipeline and the Commonwealth won the easement because the rights were said to have been vacated by the woman’s grandfather when he voluntarily began paying Roanoke County property taxes decades before.

Then there’s property tax assessment. The value of something is established only when a buyer and seller agree on the price. Some jackass comes along and says the home you paid $100k for forty years ago is now worth $500k because…reasons. Horseshit.

And of course the least legitimate level of governance; the HOA. Don’t get me started.

We’re taxed for making money (income),
We’re taxed for spending money (sales), and depending on what we buy,
We’ve taxed yearly for having made the purchase (Home, car, registration, etc).

Now, I like knowing someone will show up to put out a fire, or handle a traffic wreck, and any follow on court cases, and make sure where I’m eating is clean and not serving dog. For these reasons, and others, I understand the need for taxes. Just not multiple types of taxation.

There will be disagreement, but I suggest eliminating all but the income tax — while removing many of the “breaks”. Why? Because those making the most money and benefiting the most from our economic system should be the ones to support that system the most.

Although in principle any taxing of property is wrong, I doubt I would think much of it if not for the fact that almost all of the ransom I pay (half a dozen bills from the county every year) goes to finance crappy schools for other people’s kids.

If you do not have alloidial title do you really “own” that house or property

What we have is Fee Simple title.

The “Fee” refers to ‘fief’. We’re Serfs.

Property taxes exist for the same reason zoning laws exist…because no matter what you ‘thought’ you owned, you don’t actually own anything!

The term is “Alloidal Title”. It means that the owner of such title has first claim on ownership of that land preceding all other claimants.

In the United States Alloidal Title is retained by the Government. So you can forget all that “Here, Sir, the people rule” stuff. Furthermore of note, you might understand that this indicates the government is sovereign …and not the people, as widely proclaimed.

So, what kind of title do you have in the United States?

With a few exceptions you have what is called “Fee Simple Title”.

It means that the orignal owner, the sovereign, NOT YOU, may encumber your temporary possession of the land with any number of demands.

The Sovereign may demand rent. The Sovereign may demand taxes. The Sovereign may restrict the use of the land to only a few (or a single) use. Or the Sovereign may demand military or domestic service such as a draft…or registration thereto…in return for tenancy. And the Sovereign may take back the land at any time (see Emminent Domain). In historical contexts Sovereigns have even demanded sexual services for themselves…and for their supporters, officers, and bureaucrats (see Prima Noctus).

But what does the term “Fee Simple” mean?

Well…and you probably won’t like this… the “Fee” part refers to the nature of the estate which holds the title. Fee refers to a feudal fief.

The second part “Simple” refers to the type of ownership interest the estate holds: Simple or Simple Conditional.

So, if this clashes with what you learned in school about the American Revolution, “Of, For, and By the People”, immigration for “Free Land”, “Popular Sovereignty” and all that… Perhaps you should challenge those beliefs. Alternatively…the government has some explaining to do.

Regardless, in the Colonial period and until the 1840’s real property was held much as other property – and could easily be traded in its entirety free of traditional encumbrances. Since then? Yes…but, as noted, with encumbrances by the property’s “Ultimate” owner…which is not the person who purchased it.

Now that there are passports and travel may be restricted for taxes…

Well, it appears that…

SERFDOM’S RESTORED.

satan klaus…..claus schwabb the nwo says you will own nothing and be happier
( but already don’t own).

BaDnOn,

I’m opposed to vouchers too, because it’s still taxpayer funded, i.e. $$$ stolen from people to pay for it. I’d like to see schooling returned to private hands. Whether that’s by home schooling, a community cooperative, private schools, or religious schools, I’d like to see the public schools eliminated.

I don’t think that’ll ever happen, considering Carnegie, Rockefeller, and the other TPTB of the time were behind public schools. Not only were the schools designed to create obedient workers (George Carlin); they were created as a long term tool to usher in the NWO, or The Great Reset. The whole system is set to condition people. If you read John Taylor Gatto’s book, “The Underground History of American Education”, it’s an EYE OPENER! Once you dig in to the history behind gov’t schools, you’ll never look at things the same again. Once you see the puppet strings, you can’t unsee them…

The schools seem to be the root of many evils. Recently we had a meeting in our community where the PTB were proposing a new 5g cell tower. The first part of the presentation consisted of some sad sack mommy crying how her kid couldn’t do homework during the lock down. How she had to sit outside in the cold to get wi-fi, or how they had to leave their front door open for a cell signal. Cry me a river.

Even though about 80% of the community vehemently spoke out against the tower, the county has decided to let it proceed. The county ignored their own zoning, ignored requirements for a variance on an L1 overlay and will be putting this tower up next to a gas station and propane filling station. Meanwhile we plebes aren’t allowed build with shipping containers, or any other type building material that doesn’t meet their definition of ‘Site built.’ Meaning a pile of sticks that cost a fortune, and rots in the humidity of our riparian climate.

The 5g tower will pay the landowner about 7k month, if what I read is true. He ran for commissioner and lost. No doubt he donated copious amounts of filthy lucre to the (s)elected officials.

At this point I don’t know whether to proceed with what I want to build, basically raising the black flag, full on and going to war, or just look at other places. This is what happens when a place fills up with blue state refugees. It’s a cautionary tale for those of you who still live outside the reservations.

And yes I have paid through the wazoo. 20k over ten years in property tax, for a small house on five acres that cost me 100k. Meanwhile turd worlders filling up my state pay nothing and receive everything, for free.

White men better unite and realize they want us all dead. No other way to put it. I’m guessing about 50% have realized this. Which is better than the the five percent of us who have known this for decades. We still need to get to 90%. At that point we hold the power. Nothing to lose once our backs are to the wall, All the useless eaters really seem to like their modern civilization and conveniences. It would be a shame if something were to happen to it.

Great article, Eric.

Also, following this same ideology are building codes. Dictates are passed about what you can and can’t build on your own land, regardless if there is any complaint or not.

Exactly whose land is it when someone can tell you how it is used? Also, I don’t want to give you plans for what I may build. Why? None of your goddamned business, for one. But two… Private security. Same reason I can’t have plans to the White House. It might jeopardize “national security”, right? Well, giving you details of what I’m doing will jeopardize MY security. Some might learn how to easily break-in, destroy my buildings, etc. So no. I’m not telling you what I’m building.

Eric? Your BEST. ARTICLE. EVER!

Even in Ancapistan you would likely be paying recurring, contractually agreed to fees for things like private property titling services, private courts, private trash hauling, private police, private fire, private schools (homeschool expenses), etc. You might be able to not acquire such services ever and the cost might be less to a greater or lesser degree based on your circumstances and “competition” to provide such services (competing gov’ts, competing police forces! yeah! uh… wait…hmmm…) but you will still be paying for something like what it represented by property taxes. All that being said, I’ll take my chances in Ancapistan.

My property tax is creeping up to the level that used to be my mortgage payment. Meanwhile county employees (our property tax is paid to the county) have a retirement plan that most of us can only dream of. I can move, but the house won’t and some other poor soul will be stuck paying. We are all serfs.

“The Declaration is poetry, not straight talk. Jefferson wrote beautifully but imprecisely.”

We lawyers call this tendency “constructive ambiguity”…or, when being less charitable, “weasel words“. The Constitution is worse: chock-a-block stuffed with weasel words, but without the poetry!

The very worst, of course, is the Bill of Rights, which is positively swiss-cheesed with back-out clauses and trick trap-doors.

Fact is, the “Founding Fathers” had no intent to “liberate” anyone but themselves, and notwithstanding the lofty rhetoric of their movement, their driving motive was to simply take ownership of a tax-farm–not to unyoke the livestock. (The Articles of Confederation came too close to “re-wilding” the beasts, and had to be quickly “fixed”.)

I bought some tax-free land a few years ago.
It was a cemetery plot in a private cemetery.
I later learned that the county was attempting to levy a property tax on private cemeteries, the reason being that some people were being buried on their own land, then claiming tax exempt on whatever number of acres, thus cheating the government.
How do you tax dead people, some of them dead for several centuries.
The owners of the cemetery had to deed it to a local church to avoid the tax.

A couple of Quotes from Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn regarding when we become truly free:

“Freedom spoils, lack of freedom teaches.”

“then the time has come to reconcile yourself to general work. To tatters. To torn skin on the hands. To a piece of bread which is smaller or worse. And perhaps…to death. But while you are alive, you drag your way along proudly with an aching back. And that is when-when you ceased to be afraid of threats and are not chasing after rewards-you become the most dangerous character in the owl-like view of the bosses. Because…what hold do they have on you?”

When the day comes that tyrants like the love child of Castro running the great white North takes away your bank accounts and throws the truckers in prison, they have nothing left but their freedom of their souls. That is when the revolution gets really nasty for the tyrants.

In my state, if you own a home you have owned to retirement age and your income doesn’t reach a threshold in dollars, you can file paperwork to be exempt of property taxes personally, the state pays the tax. It’s legislated. You need some help, you’ve lived long enough to deserve some help from somebody.

After working to age 65, you might not make it to 66 at that age, you take your social security payments, benefits, you paid the tax, the insurance premiums, at that point, you are entitled to the money you paid in to social security, fica.

Your wages/salary funded the social security monies, not the gov. The gov makes you think you are a burden and are to blame, no, ya nitwits, you are, the gov thieves. Where do you think it all started?

Yeah, SS is a more of a scam than a legitimate going concern, I don’t care anymore. You roll with the punches for years on end, then the rug gets pulled out from underneath you.

Lodging tax, beverage tax, property tax, retail sales tax, fees, licensing, municipal services monthly billing, banking fees, it never freaking ends.

Give me a break.

What is really galling is when the policeman’s association cold calls you and want you to donate for causes for the police. Don’t I pay taxes to fund the police? Why do you need more money? Huh?

I keep them on the phone and never commit, never state a reason to not contribute. The next call from them followed, another representative was wanting a donation. In the background I heard another voice ask, “Who are you talking to?” The caller answered my name. “Fuck him, he never gives anything,” were the words I heard. Why should I, you’ve been paid with tax money, you’re funded until the cows come home, dumbasses. Don’t hear too much of anything from them anymore.

I have good hearing, I’ll hear it if you are standing 100 feet away.

If you have three trash bags full of trash each week, the public works hauls away 156 trash bags per year. In ten years, you won’t be able to navigate your yard with 1560 trash bags strewn here and there. It will pay to pay to have trash hauled to a landfill.

Defund municipal services, no trash collection, no municipal water systems! A burn barrel will do.

Defund fire departments! Not that many fires, have a bucket brigade.

Defund education! A damn good idea.

Defund the Canadian truckers!

Burning and looting and murdering doesn’t stop for months on end. Carte blanche funding, monies going to the BLM leaders who then buy new cribs. Mostly peaceful protesting doe pay.

They came for the truckers, finally, don’t have to speak up, doesn’t do any good. Peaceful partying, shoveling snow, feeding homeless people, singing, dancing, getting along, all discounted. No good filthy swine truckers in Ottawa gotta go.

First they came for the unvaxxed for covid, but I didn’t speak up.

Then they came for the purebloods, meaning everybody, only those knuckledragging Canuck truckers spoke up. Canuckistaners need some serious recognition for doing what is right, deserve that much.

Justin Trudeau is now one marked pantywaist-ed, pencil-necked geek, effete snob nonpareil. Another obvious dumbass who needs to quit while he is behind. One useful idiot who doesn’t know he is THE useful idiot. Canada deserves better.

Looks like he is being played by Fauci and Klaus and Bill and George and the Chinks and anybody who can baffle him with bullshit. Looks like all a setup, in the final analysis.

It’s all the truckers’ fault, haul them away. Keelhaul the trucker pirates!

Nicht so schnell, still standing, looks like it from here.

Darling, commit me, before it’s too late – Steve Earle

Perhaps just a bit less insidious is the fact that such tax forces you to participate in the fiat dollar economy. You could do every other economic thing in your life through barter or alternative currency, but that property tax must be paid in Federal Reserve Notes.
Article One Section Ten, in part, No State shall “make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts”. So Constitutionally, property taxes cannot be collected in other than gold and silver coin. Nor can your property be assessed otherwise. Nor can any other State fee or tax be so assessed or collected. Just in case you weren’t aware of the criminality of government.

I’m going through the annual mindfuck of income taxes as we speak. Property taxes are hidden in my mortgage which is auto-drafted i.e. outta sight, outta mind. How much is enough for the consumer class? More. Always more.

Spot on.

Property tax is my most hated tax, followed by income. Both are a taking of your labors.

I’ll give some leeway to property tax at a time when only those who paid that tax could vote. And I could mildly stomach it if that were still the case.

Though none of this would be a problem if government was kept to merely providing a structure to protect our liberties.

But no, everyone wants govt to do everything for them.
Clothe the naked
Feed the hungry
Provide retirement
Control everyone I disagree with
etc

Taxes in general have morphed from a funding mechanism to one of control.

If you are given enough to survive, but never be independent, you have to continue being a cog in the machine.
If you can never own your land, house, or other effects, there is always a way to control you.

It won’t stop until the eventual collapse of the current govt. Then minor changes and it starts all over.

Eric,

I’ve told this story before, but I’ll tell it again. I got into a discussion with people on Nextdoor, the neighborhood SM website, about taxes. I objected to property taxes using the same reasoning; I especially objected to paying the school tax, as I don’t have kids and don’t use the schools. One said that I benefit from school taxes, because doctors and other professionals I use attended schools. Another woman accused me of being a whiner.

The person who said that, even though I don’t have kids in school, that I still benefit from people educated in public schools still helped me, thus benefitting me. He cited the example of going to the doctor. Of course, it was never stated that there’s no guarantee that my doctor attended my local school! It’s possible, but not very likely; AFAIK, my doctors all lived in different towns and/or states prior to practicing in my area. Also unaddressed was the fact that I was paying handsomely for a service I did not nor ever would use. Where’s the fairness or justice in paying for something you don’t need or use?

Then, there was the woman who accused me of being a whiner. She started off by saying that there was nothing more American than paying taxes! I reminded her of the fact that the War for Independence had largely been fought OVER taxes! I also reiterated the fact that, because you pay property taxes, you never truly own your home. She insulted me (called me a whiner), then proceeded to tell me about her grandmother.

She said that her grandmother did what she had to do to survive. When she (her grandmother) could no longer afford to pay the taxes for her house after becoming a widow, her mother moved out to an apartment. Then, grandma moved to a smaller apartment. This woman painted her as heroic, tenacious, and indomitable. Why? Because grandma did what she had to do, and unlike me, she didn’t whine about taxes. Can you believe it?

I then pointed out to her that she’d MADE MY POINT FOR ME! She hadn’t intended to do that, but she did. I told her so too; I went on to say that her grandmother shouldn’t have been forced to move out of the family home due to taxes. She didn’t like that too much either. I think she insulted me a bit more, but the discussion was basically over at that point.

What astounded me was how ACCEPTING people are of property taxes! I was like, WTF? Are you serious? Not only do they accept property taxes; they chide you for bringing up these points, i.e. you never truly own your home and what that means. They can’t even SEE it! I didn’t know what else to do but shake my head. Anyway Eric, you’re spot on when it comes to property taxes.