Here’s what happened when they raised taxes 2,000+ years ago

In 353 BC, as violent class warfare broke out across ancient Greece, one wealthy Athenian lamented in his journal,
When I was a boy, wealth was regarded as a thing so…admirable that almost everyone affected to own more property than he actually possessed. Now a man has to be ready to defend himself against being rich as if it were the worst of crimes.
Ancient Greece had become deeply divided at that point.
The opportunities from new ‘technology’ and new trade routes created a lot of wealth for many people. Others were left behind.
Plato called it ‘the two cities’ of Athens – ‘one the city of the poor, the other of the rich, the one at war with the other.’
Eventually the poorer citizens were able to take over ancient Greece’s prized democracy. And, putting themselves firmly in control of government institutions, the new politicians came up with the most creative ways of raising taxes, seizing property, and redistributing wealth.

This post was published at Sovereign Man on August 7, 2017.