> the research then went on to show how this narrative increasingly broke
> down and, as a consequence, more and more people felt that they should find
> ways to skate out of paying taxes. They began to barter more in order to
> avoid being taxed. Etc.
"all grammars leak"; any system of laws, tax rules, management, ... can and will be gamed. That's just a consequence of the nature of rule systems, and of humans.
What bothers me most about taxation is not the money; it is the time. I do not want to waste hours on their forms.