Laurence Peter: American Tax Irony
on Thursday, April 14, 2011Dr. Laurence J. Peter Money Quotation saying the founding fathers created these United States to avoid the Queen’s heavy tax burden, but we have now exceeded her. Dr. Laurence J. Peter said:
“America is a land of taxation that was founded to avoid taxation” — Dr. Laurence J. Peter
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This quote from Laurence J. Peter references the historical context in which the United States was founded. The American colonies sought to break away from British rule in part due to disagreements over “taxation without representation.”
However, once establishing an independent nation, the new American government also recognized the need to collect taxes to fund public services and infrastructure.
Thus, while avoiding taxation was part of the motivation for the American Revolution, the country has since embraced taxation as a necessary function of government.
Dr. Peter’s quote wryly observes this irony – that the U.S. was founded by revolutionaries trying to escape taxation, but it has ultimately become “a land of taxation.”