During the vietnam war, Alexander Haig, a general in the army and an advisor to the white house said the following about Vietnam war protestors:
"Let them march all they want, as long as they continue to pay their taxes."
That statement basically sums up what war tax resisters do, instead of marching in big protests, they do not pay their taxes. War tax resistance is the refusal to pay some or all taxes that pay for war, and may be practiced by conscientious objectors, pacifists, or those protesting against a particular war or certain weapons of war (nuclear). War Tax resisters are distinct from "tax protesters," who deny that the legal obligation to pay taxes exists or applies to them. War Tax resisters may accept that some law commands them to pay taxes but they still choose to resist taxation. The USA's military budget is bigger than the next 7 or 8 top ten big spenders combined. It is estimated that about half of federal taxes goes to current and former military spending and its adjacent industries. USA only spends about 3% of taxes on education. So their is ample reasoning for these people to not want to pay war taxes. Some war tax resisters will either pay 50% of their taxes or a symbolic 1$ or no tax at all. Some will often use the tax money they don't spend, and give it to charity. In this way, they demonstrate that the intent of their resistance is not selfish and that they want to use a portion of their earnings to contribute to the common good. For instance, Julia Butterfly Hill resisted about $150,000 in federal taxes, and donated that money to after school programs, arts and cultural programs, community gardens, programs for Native Americans, alternatives to incarceration, and environmental protection programs. She said:
I actually take the money that the IRS says goes to them and I give it to the places where our taxes should be going. And in my letter to the IRS I said: "I'm not refusing to pay my taxes. I'm actually paying them but I'm paying them where they belong because you refuse to do so."
So what role can crypto play in this ? Well often war tax resisters openly declare to the IRS that they are protesting paying for war taxes. They will often be a part of war tax resister groups and will simultaneously attend a protest on tax day, making their decision pubic. These people are not trying to hide. For some more high profil war tax resisters the IRS does send stronlgy worded letters with a bill for the tax amount. Some will have their wages garnished, if they own property the IRS will try to seize it or seize bank accounts. Enter crypto. War tax resisters can put their net worth in unseizable money. If you hold private key no one can take your crypto. No order from the IRS or a judge can create a situation where you can lose possession of your crypto, it's the ultimate tool for war tax resisters. It's the perfect asset to have since there are a lot of ways to spend Bitcoin and other cryptos without having to go through the government or anyone. Hell, one could even just do face to face in person cash transactions and they wouldn't even generate a tax liability. I believe war tax resistance is going to get more popular as crypto becomes more mainstream. You might ask "why doesn't the IRS prosecute people?". They have in the past, but their recent strategy has been to not create a media event surrounding the war tax resisters. They have said in the past that the media attention of a trial only gives other people the idea to do it, and it's not worth the negative media attention.
Personally I have avoided paying taxes because I live a very modest lifestyle, one where I have a near zero tax obligation. It is illegal to not pay your taxes and I would never tell anyone that they should break the law. However certain laws have been morally wrong in the past (segregation in the US and some might consider prohibition as well). Some might say, when it comes to laws, that it is up to the sovereign individual to decide if its morally righteous or not to pay war tax or not. Crypto is about taking control of your finances and becoming the arbiter of your destiny.
Up until now, living modestly has been my way of participating in the war tax resistance movement. However, I'm very thankful that i've stacked all my sats without kyc, because, should I ever decide to cash out, and have a tax liability, I definitely want the option of acting my conscious and not directly funding the killing of innocent people across the world. But again that is illegal and I can't recommend doing that.
You can find out about war tax resistence here and watch an interview with one here
Before the mods just knee jerk delete this post, I am not advocating for anyone to break the law. I am merely pointing out that crypto would help a certain protest movement with their objectives. War tax resistance is widely discussed on reddit in several subreddits such as /r/postive_news, r/Libertarian, r/RadicalChristianity and many others. So the mere discussion of what is possible with crypto should be allowed. We talk about how people use crypto to buy drugs or gamble in places where it is illegal, we sould be able to discuss the how and why of crypto and the war tax resistance movement. You can see examples on reddit here and here and here
