Wars over taxes
It might been generally known that the American Revolutionary War was over taxes, but at least in Germany there is massive suppression of even the idea that paying taxes could be a reason for war.
In order to prove this point, I shall mention three instances of such suppression. The first two are dealing with the translations of the The Three Investigators novels. In Robert Arthur's The Mystery of the Silver Spider there is a group of people in the kingdom of Varania called the minstrels, who, because of their tax exemption, are particularly loyal to Prince Djaro. In the German translation, which changes many things, there is no trace of such a group whatsoever. In Mary Virginia Carey's The Mystery of the Scar-Faced Beggar the terrorists are rich landowners who despise paying heavy taxes, in the German translation they are cult members fighting for the starving masses.
The third instance concerns the Thirteen Years' War. This is the English Wikipedia article about it, and this the German - compare them at your leisure. Although this is German history, the English article is three times as long. And the German article opens with essentially stating that the Prussian cities have been traitors in a time of war. And of course you'll hear nothing about this war in German schools.
Both the American Revolutionary War and the Thirteen Year's War have been fought in newly established colonies, at a time, when national identity and local administrative structures were still weak. I claim of course that there has been another war over taxes, which would have occured however at another point of societal development, namely during a reformation. The Quran tells us:
Upon the closure of the Platonic Academy in 529, Damascius travelled to the Persian court in 532, from which he returned backed by a peace treaty between Justinian I and Khosrau I allowing him free movement in the Byzantine Empire. He was last seen in Syria in 538 at age 76. Assuming with very good reason (additionally Muhammed was supposedly born on Plato's 1000th birthday) that Damascius wrote the Quran in the sense that he provided a basis that was later incorporated in its current form, the obvious idea then is that Damascius toured Anatolia and Syria promoting a juster society under what is now known as Sharia law. There is indirect corroboration that there was demand for it in Anatolia by the subsequent establishment of themes. So the plan then was: Recruit supporters of the cause (who would have initially lived like the sleepers described in Surah 18), let them aid the Persians at the appointed time (i.e. open the city gates), and eventually let the Arab contingent of the Sasanian army desert in order to grant Constantinople the opportunity to carry the war into Persia. It is a reasonably promising plan. And the accounts that we have match it.
This, too, is a story that isn't being told. Not for lack of evidence, but because the theme of the divergence of particular interests from the common interest underlying all wars over taxes is anathema to the Catholic Church, unless the case is being made that the common interest is illegitimately claimed and the particular interest does indeed support the common one, which, somewhat ironically, happened when the Founding Fathers of the United States claimed that their particular interest was the common interest of mankind and by that, knowingly or unknowingly, embraced Catholicism, because any philosophy that aims to be universal has to submit to the winner of the battle of ideas, so either Catholics have to become good Americans or Americans good Catholics, and it is somewhat obvious which of the two is more likely. The same argument could be made for Islam, but the Quran doesn't argue in the name of the common interest exactly, but rather in the name of human nature and nature in general, being a divine dictate. I, of course, try to stay as close to the truth as possible and trust it. And the truth of the matter at hand, as I see it, is that particular interests cannot be surrendered unconditionally to the common interest nor vice versa, which isn't much of a statement amongst sane people, but if that is so then there should be a fair discussion of tax wars while there isn't.
In order to prove this point, I shall mention three instances of such suppression. The first two are dealing with the translations of the The Three Investigators novels. In Robert Arthur's The Mystery of the Silver Spider there is a group of people in the kingdom of Varania called the minstrels, who, because of their tax exemption, are particularly loyal to Prince Djaro. In the German translation, which changes many things, there is no trace of such a group whatsoever. In Mary Virginia Carey's The Mystery of the Scar-Faced Beggar the terrorists are rich landowners who despise paying heavy taxes, in the German translation they are cult members fighting for the starving masses.
The third instance concerns the Thirteen Years' War. This is the English Wikipedia article about it, and this the German - compare them at your leisure. Although this is German history, the English article is three times as long. And the German article opens with essentially stating that the Prussian cities have been traitors in a time of war. And of course you'll hear nothing about this war in German schools.
Both the American Revolutionary War and the Thirteen Year's War have been fought in newly established colonies, at a time, when national identity and local administrative structures were still weak. I claim of course that there has been another war over taxes, which would have occured however at another point of societal development, namely during a reformation. The Quran tells us:
The Romans have been defeated in the nearer land, and they, after their defeat will be victorious within ten years - Allah's is the command in the former case and in the latter - and on that day believers will rejoice.which places the time of telling at around 620 A.D., assuming that people back then would have laughed at retrospective prophecies. Assuming further that the source of this prophecy was not an angel, but a plan that was being implemented, we're left to ask: What plan?
Upon the closure of the Platonic Academy in 529, Damascius travelled to the Persian court in 532, from which he returned backed by a peace treaty between Justinian I and Khosrau I allowing him free movement in the Byzantine Empire. He was last seen in Syria in 538 at age 76. Assuming with very good reason (additionally Muhammed was supposedly born on Plato's 1000th birthday) that Damascius wrote the Quran in the sense that he provided a basis that was later incorporated in its current form, the obvious idea then is that Damascius toured Anatolia and Syria promoting a juster society under what is now known as Sharia law. There is indirect corroboration that there was demand for it in Anatolia by the subsequent establishment of themes. So the plan then was: Recruit supporters of the cause (who would have initially lived like the sleepers described in Surah 18), let them aid the Persians at the appointed time (i.e. open the city gates), and eventually let the Arab contingent of the Sasanian army desert in order to grant Constantinople the opportunity to carry the war into Persia. It is a reasonably promising plan. And the accounts that we have match it.
This, too, is a story that isn't being told. Not for lack of evidence, but because the theme of the divergence of particular interests from the common interest underlying all wars over taxes is anathema to the Catholic Church, unless the case is being made that the common interest is illegitimately claimed and the particular interest does indeed support the common one, which, somewhat ironically, happened when the Founding Fathers of the United States claimed that their particular interest was the common interest of mankind and by that, knowingly or unknowingly, embraced Catholicism, because any philosophy that aims to be universal has to submit to the winner of the battle of ideas, so either Catholics have to become good Americans or Americans good Catholics, and it is somewhat obvious which of the two is more likely. The same argument could be made for Islam, but the Quran doesn't argue in the name of the common interest exactly, but rather in the name of human nature and nature in general, being a divine dictate. I, of course, try to stay as close to the truth as possible and trust it. And the truth of the matter at hand, as I see it, is that particular interests cannot be surrendered unconditionally to the common interest nor vice versa, which isn't much of a statement amongst sane people, but if that is so then there should be a fair discussion of tax wars while there isn't.
Labels: 27, formalisierung, geschichte, gesellschaftskritik, gesetze, institutionen, wahrnehmungen, ἰδέα, φιλοσοφία
Eingetragen Am/um
14:14
