Even within Marx's own terms of reference, how do you ensure that what comes from each according to his/her ability ends up with each according to his/her need? Unless you assume some sort of invisible hand mechanism, there needs to be some central allocative authority. How better to do that than taxes?
Not being an advocate of Marxian communism, I would simply point out that taxes are the means of creating a general social pool of wealth out of which one can finance projects in the common good. Those who make the biggest point about the burden of taxes are also those with the least concern for the common good.
Leo Casey United Federation of Teachers 260 Park Avenue South New York, New York 10010-7272 (212-598-6869)
Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never has, and it never will. If there is no struggle, there is no progress. Those who profess to favor freedom, and yet deprecate agitation are men who want crops without plowing the ground. They want rain without thunder and lightning. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its waters. -- Frederick Douglass --
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