“Tax collectors and prostitutes” is New Testament phrase that is used to describe the least esteemed people in First Century Israel.
Like today, the prostitutes of old
provided valued services to a cadre of satisfied and loyal clients. Nonetheless, said clients were typically
unable to discuss services received with impunity in polite company or at the
family dinner table. Thus as in most
times, the prostitutes lived a shadowy life of adulation in private and scorn
in public.
Not so with the tax collectors of the
era. They were thoroughly despised by
everybody. The tax collectors of Jesus’
time were fellow Jews who worked for the occupying Romans. They were thugs who brutally extorted tribute
for the foreign oppressors and typically took a bit extra than the law required
for themselves.
Although they maintain a veneer of
professionalism and decorum, today’s tax collectors are no better than those of
ancient times. They are still the
shakedown artists for the ruling classes in far away capital cities. Sadly, today’s tax collectors enjoy far more
social prestige than today’s sex workers.
After all, you are far more likely to hear someone say something like,
“My son has a nice job at the IRS”, than, “My daughter makes big money hooking
Wall Streeters and Hollywood big shots”.
Why should this be so? Let’s compare
the two vocations.
Tax Collectors
|
Prostitutes
|
||
Services
|
The Internal Revenue
Service provides no service at all.
They just collect payments and make change if you fill out all their
forms correctly.
|
All about getting
serviced.
|
|
Legalities
|
Police will arrest you if
you avoid tax collectors.
|
Police will arrest you if
you visit the prostitutes
|
|
Protection
|
Angry people often want
to strangle tax collectors. If they
do, they will be prosecuted and punished to the full extent of the law.
|
Crazy people often attack
prostitutes. Because their occupation
is illegal they cannot go to the police and must suffer in silence.
|
|
Health Benefits
|
Government employees
enjoy some of the finest healthcare benefits in the world.
|
Sex workers receive no
employer based healthcare benefits.
Because of the underground nature of their work, they and their
clients are at high risk for communicable diseases.
|
|
Retirement
|
Fully funded government
pension. Ability to retire early and
start another career and get additional benefits.
|
Old and worn out. No employer sponsored 401K plan, no
contributions made to Social Security.
|
|
Compulsion
|
Must pay taxes and file
returns under penalty of law.
|
Totally voluntary. You have problem with paying for sex. Fine.
Don't do it.
|
Most readers of this blog will concur
that taxation is theft. Likewise, prostitution
is commerce.
Theft depletes wealth and prosperity. It engenders hatred, suspicion and hostility
among people. It destroys community and
the trust necessary to build a free society.
Commerce stimulates production, encourages
cooperation among people and maximizes society’s utility – another word for happiness.
One must wonder, what kind of world rewards
thieves while punishing the producers of pleasure.
Related
Posts:
Getting
F***ed By Statists (Literally)
The
Hook Up Truck
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Half the people are drowned and the other half are swimming in the wrong direction." - Paul Simon
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