The Great American Property Tax Freak Out by David Schleicher.

I am not against property taxes, per se, but it does feel very odd that we have to “rent” our own house from the government for ~$800 per month.

There is no way in hell that we are getting $800 in services in return for that. The roads here are terrible. Homeless people wander all over. The government is generally atrocious. I don’t know about the school quality, and I don’t begrudge funding schools at all.

But we get maybe $100 worth of benefit each month and pay eight times that. Sure, we have money, we can pay it. Whatever.

And yes, I understand all the arguments for property taxes, Georgism, etc. The problem is not lack of understanding; it is realizing that you pay vast amounts to a government that seems to do very little. And that’s the same government that could and would kick you out of your home if you stopped forking over.

But in human society those with the most guns make the rules. We can pretty it up but that’s basically how it works.