Playing the Indian Card

Saturday, June 13, 2015

No Representation without Taxation?



The Boston Tea Party.
There is an interesting implied corollary to the war cry under which the American Revolution was waged. If 'no taxation without representation,' then why not 'no representation without taxation'?

In fact, in the early years of Canadian democracy, and perhaps elsewhere, this was taken for granted. Anyone receiving public assistance was excluded from the voter rolls. So was anyone receiving a wage from the government—that is, the civil service. The point, and it is reasonable enough, was that any such person had a conflict of interest. Couldn't they just vote themselves more money?

It seems to me it would be a small enough sacrifice, for those truly in need. And, although largely symbolic, it would tend to end any sense of entitlement, among both the recipients of public assistance and the civil service.

Of course, it would probably devastate the NDP...

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