🎯 Main Thesis

“Taxation is not the real theft — capitalism is.”

While many cry that “taxation is theft,” the video argues that the true, systemic theft is the extraction of surplus value by capitalists. Workers generate more value than they are paid, and that difference (surplus value) is taken by capitalists — an unseen form of daily economic exploitation.

💵 The Two Types of “Theft” Compared

1. Taxation

• Money deducted from your wages by the state.
• Visible: You see the deduction on your payslip.
• Used (theoretically) for roads, schools, hospitals, public services.
• In practice:
  • Sometimes funds public needs (e.g., EU states),
  • Often funds war, subsidies for the rich (e.g., US),
  • Rich pay proportionally less than the poor.

2. Surplus Value Extraction (Real Theft)

• You work 8 hours, generate $200 of value, but only get paid $100.
• The other $100? Taken by the capitalist.
• Invisible: Not shown on your payslip.
• Your labor produces more than you receive — daily.

"You work 8 hours but only get paid for 4 — and that’s before taxes."

🔍 Why Don't People See It?

• Taxes are visible and explicitly deducted.
• Surplus extraction is hidden behind wage contracts and capitalist accounting.