A History of Tax Rebellion
Tax rebellion has been the single most important principle underlying all the successful rebellions in history. Magna Carta started with a tax rebellion, the English civil war, American independence, French Revolution, the Russian Revolution, Gandhi’s salt tax rebellions and the Glasgow women’s rent strike of 1915.
The American war tax resister Henry David Thoreau lectured on ‘The Rights and Duties of the Individual in relation to Government’ and penned Civil Disobedience the philosophy of which influenced Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jnr.
In Britain The Peace Tax 7, believed that having the right to conscientiously object to taxes being spent on war preparation would enable citizens to influence the way their country approached conflict in the world. Their conscience, ethics and morality were not recognised by the so-called courts of justice.
The problem therefore remains: What is a taxpayer to do when the government is in breach of international law to avoid being complicit in the crimes of government. Please read this statement by Chris Coverdale.