In this straight-talk video, Clifford Ribner makes the constitutional and historical case against the modern income tax: how it began under absolutist Europe, how it reached America in 1913, why wartime withholding locked it in, and what that system means for liberty, property, and the rule of law today.

What you will see in this video

– Louis XIV’s France as the template: legally stratified classes, a levy that fell on peasants, and the political consequences of taxing without accountability.

– John Law’s paper-money experiment and the Mississippi Company crash: why paper promises and state-run finance corrupted both money and taxation.

– Why the Estates-General was called, how taxation battles triggered revolutionary politics, and what that taught the Founders.

– Britain’s brief wartime income tax and America’s Civil War experiment; why the Constitution’s original design rejected a permanent income tax until the 16th Amendment.

– The Constitution’s money clauses: the power to coin money, not to run a permanent paper-money machine; how Progressive-era moves and agencies changed the architecture.

– 1913 as the pivot: the 16th Amendment and the new federal tax apparatus; how employer withholding in 1942 made the tax invisible in paychecks.

– Crimes and “willfulness”: the legal framework that makes minor mistakes dangerous when intent can be inferred.

– From property rights to the administrative state: how tax, regulation, and centralized credit power reinforce each other.

Why this matters to you

• Your paycheck and savings: withholding hides the true size of the tax; a shrinking dollar quietly taxes every earner and saver.

• Your privacy: an income tax compels disclosures most people would never share in ordinary life.

• Your business and career: complex rules and agencies can chill investment and entrepreneurship.

• Rule of law: in a republic, power is limited and accountable; taxation and monetary policy should not bypass those limits.

• Civic literacy: understanding 1913, the 16th Amendment, and the architecture around them is essential to defending liberty.

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👉 Check out Clifford’s book: Freedom’s Last Stand.