@musso
Curious. Do you think AA and NA chapters should be tax exempt?
I’ve already answered this question. Yes, I do believe they should be tax exempt, in addition to everyone else. Short of this though, political equality and responsible governance require a skepticism towards exemptions and any preferential treatment.
I’ll add to what I’ve already said about how governments rely on granting privileges as part of a broader
divide-and-conquer strategy. By treating subjects unequally in as many different and complicated ways as possible, rulers can reduce opposition to their authority. We are less likely to overthrow a system that we perceive treats us favorably in some way, even if we’re generally dissatisfied with the regime.
And in Public Choice Theory, it’s called “dispersed costs-concentrated benefits.” It would be nearly impossible to inspire your friends and neighbors to join you in protest against, say, corn or sugar subsidies. Folks would not be willing to get off their couch and protest something that costs them probably pennies and nickels a year, even though it makes a few firms unfairly wealthy, gives their lobbyists influence over policy, and makes our food supply more unhealthy. Plus, when you have so many citizens on the receiving end of some sort of preferential treatment, it reduces the bandwidth of citizens’ attention to matters outside of the preservation of that privilege.
Commentators on statecraft throughout history have long noted how gifts from rulers have always undermined the formation of consensus and coalitions among the governed. It is anti-democratic at its core. It is critical that we return to equal treatment under the law and equal rates of taxation so that the widest possible tax base can exist. This will encourage solidarity among all tax payers. It will also demand less spending from our governments. We all remember “No taxation without representation!” Well, we should also support “No representation without taxation.” That includes foreign lobbies too, btw!