Benjamin Franklin said more than he imagined when he joined death and taxes in his famous aphorism. Taxes fund government. Government is the deadliest institution known to man. R. J. Rummel, author of Death by Government, estimates that sovereign governments killed 170 million people in the 20th century alone. The figure disregards the numbers killed in interstate warfare.

Thus, the deadline for failure to pay taxes is far from metaphorical. Indeed, the term can be taken quite literally, even (especially!) in the vaunted, end-of-history, human rights-loving Western democracies. Try practicing and then persisting in a little tax delinquency some time. Fail to file and you will receive a summons to appear before a tax court or administrative agency. Ignore the summons and the tax police will appear at your door. Resist the police and you will be met with the full force of the state's centralized mayhem apparatus. Not only will you end up dead, but the ensuing collateral damage may well "take out" your friends, family and neighbors as well.

Freedom isn't free. Freedom is lies, surveillance, extortion, violence, threats of violence, imprisonment and involuntary servitude. Freedom, in short, is slavery. George Orwell himself said as much.