Do anarchists "cheat" more on their taxes?
Political, Economics ·Wednesday August 1, 2012 @ 20:05 EDT (link)
Another book I am reading is Dan Ariely's The (Honest) Truth About Dishonesty; in it he describes the SMORC, or Simple Model of Rational Crime, wherein, for example, people might suppose that those with the opportunity to cheat might make a cost-benefit (expected value) calculation, and (as a few implication) cheat more when the payoff is larger, or when it is believed they are less likely to be caught: experiments, however, indicate this is not necessarily the case. Rather (he concludes from a series of experiments), "[W]e cheat up to the level that allows us to retain our self-image as reasonably honest individuals."
"Well," I immediately leaped, "surely that means that anarchists must cheat on our taxes more than statists (people that adore or tolerate the state), and thus, education about the state will help more than originally thought to starve the beast!" In similar vein, it is more important than thought that the state retain control of the educatory apparatus; for if it cannot bedizen itself and indoctrinate the masses, then they are less likely to give it what it demands.
(How did I get there? An anarchist understands he owes the state nothing in taxes—they are understood to be mere extortion; thus it is not wrong to withhold and refrain from paying any of them demanded, even through violent self-defense if possible—although such is not advisable, even through a method of deceit, for it is of the same morality as deceiving the storm trooper when he asks if there are any Jews in the house, differing only in degree.)
But the thought is then: what sort of honesty are people concerned with: local honesty (did I honestly report my income?) or a bigger picture (even though the truth is that there are three Jews in the attic, deceiving evil people so they do not do unjust harm is, as it were, a higher form of honesty)? Well; if you had read Ariely's other books, where people are shown through experiment to easily distracted and not to retain abstract concepts well when making decisions (preferring, e.g., associated emotion), you'd guess that the "local honesty" would triumph, as would I, and that it would take considerable training to not actually feel bad about lying even to the Nazi troops at the door. For anything less serious, one would likely not make the effort to rewire one's brain, as it were; and so, alas, it does not seem that the revolution will be brought about along this wise.
