A lot of you have been talking about taxation, so I’m going to explain the Catholic concepts of just and unjust taxation:
The Church teaches that authority is exercised legitimately only when it seeks the common good of the group concerned and if it employs morally licit means to attain it (CCC 1903).
So, in order for taxation to be legitimate it must: 1) seek the common good; and 2) be attained by morally licit means (ends don’t justify the means). The Church has long taught how taxation is only just when used for justice, and that when it deviates from justice it becomes theft. This is what prompted St. Augustine to ask, “Without justice, what are kingdoms but great robberies”. This is the difference between just and unjust taxation: just taxation is that which is based on justice, being in accordance with the Church’s requirements, while unjust taxation is utter theft, against the Church’s requirements.
Any type of welfare that follows from the common good requirement would have to help those in need who are unemployed, unable to work, or living in poverty. Everyone has rights to food, clothing, shelter, health, work, and other things that are needed to give someone a basic sense of humanity, and these need to be given if someone cannot attain them for themselves. However, we are also told “he who shall not work, shall not eat” (2 Thessalonians 3:10), so if someone who is physically able to work refuses to do so, and instead wants to be dependent on the community for his needs, does not deserve welfare, and all welfare will be withheld from him until he chooses to work. Aside from welfare, the common good could also call for funding for the military, infrastructure, and other things needed for a well-coordinated society.
Now we get to the second requirement: the means must be just. The means must not violate the dignity or independence of the human person and must not violate the moral law. Also, subsidiarity is an important principle in determining the morality of a tax. A tax that goes toward stimulating the economy of a local community may fit the common good requirement, but if this tax was enacted by the federal government, it would most certainly be unjust because it ignores subsidiarity. Also, one must remember that subsidiarity calls for private initiative first before the political community intervenes. If subsidiarity was actually practiced to its fullest, I believe taxation would be greatly diminished, as local charities and other organizations would step in. I emphasize here that local, private means MUST be used before force is used.
So, all taxation must be a duty of justice rather than theft, and must be used solely for the common good and must be obtained by morally licit means, with private means being tried before public ones.
