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Full Idea
For the maintenance of public force and the expenses of administration, a common contribution is indispensable. It must be equally apportioned among all citizens according to their abilities.
Gist of Idea
Everyone must contribute to the state's power and administration, in just proportion
Source
Mirabeau and committee (Declaration of the Rights of Man [1789], 13)
Book Ref
'Les Philosophes', ed/tr. Torrey,Norman L. [Perigee 1980], p.286
A Reaction
Presumably this enshrines graduated income tax, an eighteenth century invention. Could you contribute just by your labour, or by fighting for the army? Those may be greater contributions than mere money.
| 19899 | The consent of the people is essential for any tax [Locke] |
| 19836 | The amount of taxation doesn't matter, if it quickly circulates back to the citizens [Rousseau] |
| 19860 | Everyone must contribute to the state's power and administration, in just proportion [Mirabeau/committee] |
| 18639 | If we assess what people would buy in an imaginary insurance market, our taxes could copy it [Dworkin, by Kymlicka] |
| 20684 | Financing is increasingly through credit rather than taxes; people prefer investing to taxation [Harari] |