Another form of PORK? Or i this the other White Meat?
Battleground 2012: Taxpayers vs. Tax-Eaters
Robert Goulder | Feb. 3, 2011 02:45 PM EST
Everybody knows what a taxpayer is. We are the millions of people who pick up the tab for America's public spending. You, me, basically everyone you meet is a taxpayer. But what is a "tax-eater"? What do they look like? Where do they come from? And what should you do if you live next door to one?
The term can be traced back to British farmer and radical journalist William Cobbett (1763-1835) who railed against burdensome taxation in pre-Victorian England. Specifically, a tax-eater refers to any person or entity on the receiving end of public spending. If the chosen verbiage seems pejorative, that's exactly what Cobbett intended. His central belief was that tax-eaters are a drain on society and their numbers should be reduced to the greatest extent possible. In short, tax-eaters were freeloaders who unfairly rode on backs of others (i.e., taxpayers).
Fast forward to modern times. Cobbett's colorful language strikes a chord with today's Tea Party movement, which displays a marked intolerance for tax-eaters. This is what drives the conservative desire for smaller government. Should the number of tax-eaters in a given society grow too large in proportion to the number of taxpayers, your culture will inevitably descend into socialist hell.
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