Albert Bushnell Hart: Paying Taxes Civilizing
on Tuesday, April 7, 2015Albert Bushnell Hart Money Quotation saying we keep our civilization by paying for our society through investing in an infrastructure. Albert Bushnell Hart said:
“Taxation is the price which civilized communities pay for the opportunity of remaining civilized” — Albert Bushnell Hart
In this quote, Albert Bushnell Hart is expressing the view that taxation is a necessary cost or “price” that societies must pay in order to maintain civilization. He seems to be arguing that taxes are required to fund the institutions, services, and infrastructure that allow communities and societies to function in an organized, stable manner.
Without taxation to support government functions like security, education, healthcare, transportation and so on, communities would not be able to remain “civilized” in an orderly fashion. So in essence, Hart is saying that taxation, while an economic burden, is the cost or fee that communities must pay for the benefits of organized governance and civilization.
Birthday: July 1, 1854 – Death: July 16, 1943