Tis Tax Day!

Why Don't they have Taxes due in November?

This is of course a rhetorical question. If it was, there would be no career politicians because everyone who owed money to the IRS would vote every career politician out of office.

The Average Tax Rate is of course 25% [Source]

And as usual, I owe "the Man" money! Turns out "the Man" hates single, unmarried, low-middle class, childless workers, who don't own a house. So, for those of you who are the opposite of me, congrats! You most likely received a refund. Everything about the tax system is rigged and frankly hits post-grad students the most. For example: A young upstanding [handsome] man such as yours truly. Goes off to college 'to better himself' and become a 'valuable member of society' incurs a substantial debt amount to do so and at the end of the year guess what? He can only deduct $2,500 off his interest! Only $2,500! Isn't that a bit ridiculous? One should be able to deduct all of the interest but I digress. 

So having done my taxes, it had me thinking, what is our tax structure and tax rate compared to the medieval serf? 

If you remember your history classes, the Middle Ages where a terrible 'dark time' with 'lots of wars' and 'high taxes' and all but 'slave labour conditions of the serfs.'  Turns out it's all...what's a nice way of putting it...blatant lies. 

In Sweden for example the lowest tax rate was 2% while the highest was...wait for it...15%

Overall, the period between 1365 and 1424 would see the average annual tax rate to be 177 grams of silver, or the equivalent of 105 kilograms of butter or 15% of the value of a farm. By way of comparison, in England during the 1370s, just prior to the Peasants’ Revolt, the average taxes per capita was about 10 grams of silver. [10 grams of silver being a tax rate of 0.66%] 

Compared with today, it's amazing we haven't had a revolt yet! But you just wait it gets worse better...

The Average American only Gets 8 Vacation Days per Year

A thirteenth-century estime finds that whole peasant families did not put in more than 150 days per year on their land. Manorial records from fourteenth-century England indicate an extremely short working year -- 175 days -- for servile laborers. Later evidence for farmer-miners, a group with control over their worktime, indicates they worked only 180 days a year. [Source]

In other words, the average serf had half the year to vacation!

As for War

America has pretty much been in a military engagement of some form or another, nearly every single year since its founding. 

What does all of this mean? It means that:

Read More: Your Vote, Does. Not. Matter!


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