Our modern tax systems are based on the system first invented during the reign of the first triumvirate (Julius Caeser, Marcus Crassus, and Pompey). Marcus Crassus was "the richest man in Rome" and known for scamming people into debt, and much of the economy of Rome before that point was based on debt and literal "debt slaves" (normal roman citizens forced to either work in the mines or become a gladiator to pay off debts). All of this is to say that yes, taxes are *literally* theft, and it was designed that way on purpose from the very beginning. But Caeser said you must pay or you'll be killed, and then over time people just accepted taxes as a regular part of life. Paying taxes to help improve your local community makes sense, but paying an "internet tax" for buying some digital thing online? Nonsense. And despite being taxed so much for things in the US, we still don't get free healthcare. It is so fucked lmao