Size of Government

Conservatives complain about high taxes, gigantic bureaucracy, ridiculous lawsuits, piles of forms, envy…

Liberals complain about the cost of the military, the number of people in prison, police tactics, inherited wealth, wage slavery, poverty…

How about a system with:

A low tax that is completely self-assessed with no legal penalty for non-compliance.
No forms to fill out.
Harsh penalties for frivolous lawsuits.
No standing army.
No jails!
No police!
Limits on wage slavery, a universal right to land ownership and interest-free capital so all have a chance at being financially independent.
A welfare system open to all without question.

This is what we find in the Law of Moses – the law of liberty – if we look deeply enough.

8. And the officers shall speak further unto the people, and they shall say, What man is there that is fearful and fainthearted? let him go and return unto his house, lest his brethren's heart faint as well as his heart.

--Deuteronomy 20

After the conquest of Canaan, there was no standing army. It was a purely militia-based system. And even in times of war, sensitive peace-loving hippies were exempt from military service [Deut. 20:8]. (Had the United States followed this dictate, we might have won in Viet Nam.)

As for taxes, there was the annual tithe (10% of the increase of farm output) to support the priesthood. But this was more religious observance than actual support of government. The priests did some governmental functions, but not much – at least as far as I can tell. (Another 10% was to be spent for the three annual religious gatherings, but that was spent on self and family. A third 10% was assessed only on the “third year,” presumably of the 7-year cycle, for feeding the poor and for the priests.)

2. Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

--Matthew 6 20

As far as I can tell, assessment was purely on the honor system. I can find no enforcement provisions other than divine wrath for those who paid less. In the Gospel account [Matt. 6:2] we are given a picture of the rich bringing in large amounts of offerings in an ostentatious display to show off their prosperity – much as modern rich people pay for buildings at universities and the like.

Of course, life without real government requires personal and civic responsibility. People were expected to take care of their parents in their old age. Wealthy people were to give zero interest loans to their poorer neighbors. Farmers were to form spontaneous armies in times of invasion. Eventually, the ancient Hebrews tired of this responsibility and demanded a king. The prophet Samuel’s response is one of the earliest libertarian statements on record.

10. And Samuel told all the words of the Lord unto the people that asked of him a king.

11. And he said, This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you: He will take your sons, and appoint them for himself, for his chariots, and to be his horsemen; and some shall run before his chariots.

12. And he will appoint him captains over thousands, and captains over fifties; and will set them to ear his ground, and to reap his harvest, and to make his instruments of war, and instruments of his chariots.

13. And he will take your daughters to be confectionaries, and to be cooks, and to be bakers.

14. And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your oliveyards, even the best of them, and give them to his servants.

15. And he will take the tenth of your seed, and of your vineyards, and give to his officers, and to his servants.

16. And he will take your menservants, and your maidservants, and your goodliest young men, and your asses, and put them to his work.

17. He will take the tenth of your sheep: and ye shall be his servants.

18. And ye shall cry out in that day because of your king which ye shall have chosen you; and the Lord will not hear you in that day.

--1 Samuel 8

Size of Government

Further Reading