We are slaves of each other

Walter Williams' insightful article (Is U.S. government enslaving Americans?, June 11) tells us there is little difference between the slavery of the past and the modern tax slavery of Americans to their government. In each case workers are forcibly separated from the fruits of their labors for the benefit of others.

I ran for mayor of Salt Lake City last year on a platform based primarily on lowering taxes and minimizing regulation and received a mighty 37 votes. The lesson for me was that people care far less about taxes than about the special benefits they can extract from government.

In a republic such as ours, the nature of the government is determined by the people who vote. Thus, in the end, we are all just slaves of each other. We can expect no change until the voters stop electing traditional politicians beholden to powerful selfish-interest groups.

Rainer Huck

Salt Lake City