Taxation in Utopia explores utopian political philosophy from the neglected perspective of taxation. At its core, taxation is an ethical question. It requires people to sacrifice for the benefit of others, whether or not they also benefit themselves. Donald Morris refers to this broader, nonmonetary context as constructive taxation, which includes restrictions on privacy and access to information, constraints on marriage and child-rearing, and conventions restricting the proprietorship of land. Morris examines this in the context of various utopian writings, such as More's Utopia, as well as literary treatments of these issues, such as Bellamy's Looking Backward. This interdisciplinary exploration of utopian taxation provides a novel approach to examining relations between a state's view of the general welfare and the sacrifices this view requires of its citizens.

AcknowledgmentsIntroductionChapter One: Taxation as a Moral QuestPart One: Taxation: The Tail Wags the DogAn Experiment in Shared SacrificeEnds and MeansPracticalityTaxation as a Moral Question of SacrificePart Two: The Construal of Taxation and of UtopiaThe Sinews of TaxationBeyond Revenue: Defining a TaxDefining UtopiaChapter Two: Privacy Deprivation as TaxationThe Nature and Role of PrivacyThomas More (1478-1535): No Spots for Secret MeetingsBig Brother's Eyes in Nineteen Eighty-FourH. G. Wells (1866-1946): Indexing HumanityZamyatin (1884-1937): Who Are "They" and Who Are "We"?Expectations of PrivacyChapter Three: Taxing Access to TruthPart One: Plato and BaconOpaque GovernmentPlato (c. 428-c. 348 BCE): The Republic of LiesFrancis Bacon (1561-1626): The Sacrifice to SciencePart Two: Orwell and GodwinTotalitarian Methodologies: Orwell (1903-1950)William Godwin (1756-1836): Anarchist Tax PolicyChapter Four: Taxation by Required Work or OccupationPart One: Plato and MoreWork and InequalityMatching Specialized Abilities to Society's NeedsPlato (c. 428-c. 348 BCE): The Ideal Job in the RepublicThomas More (1478-1535): The Common Obligation of Common Daily ToilPart Two: Bellamy, Gilman, Wells, and SkinnerEdward Bellamy (1850-1898): The Industrial ArmyCharlotte Perkins Gilman (1860-1935): Half the Human Race Is Denied Free Productive ExpressionH. G. Wells (1866-1946): Labor Laws and the Insult of CharityB. F. Skinner (1904-1990): We Have Created Leisure Without SlaveryPart Three: Saint-Simon and CampanellaHenri Saint-Simon (1760-1825): The Human Spirit Follows a Predetermined CourseTommaso Campanella (1568-1639): Assigned Labor in The City of the SunChapter Five: Taxing the Family: Marriage, Childrearing, and EugenicsPart One: Plato, More, Bacon, Wells, and Le GuinMarriage RestrictionsFrancis Bacon (1561-1626): Marriage Except for the WiseH. G. Wells (1866-1946): Motherhood as a Service to the StateLe Guin (1929-2018): Anarchism and the Tax-Free Family in The DispossessedPart Two: Owen and GilmanRobert Owen (1771-1858): The Tax on ChildrearingCharlotte Perkins Gilman (1860-1935): Motherhood and Eugenics in HerlandPart Three: Skinner, Eugenic Tax ProceduresB. F. Skinner (1904-1990): Eliminating the Meaner Emotions in Walden TwoEugenic Tax Procedures: Campanella, Bellamy, Zamyatin, HuxleyChapter Six: Taxation and Land ProprietorshipPart One: Harrington, Godwin, and OwenThe Land QuestionJames Harrington (1611-1677): Inheritance Tax in OceanaWilliam Godwin (1756-1836): Anarchy and Private PropertyRobert Owen (1771-1858): Peaceful RevolutionPart Two: George, Tolstoy, Wells, and NozickHenry George (1839-1897): Progress, Land, and PovertyTolstoy (1828-1910): A Landowner's Struggle with the Land ProblemWells (1866-1946): The Land Question in A Modern UtopiaRobert Nozick (1938-2002): Entitlement TheoryChapter Seven: Taxation Purged from UtopiaPart One: Ayn Rand (1905-1982): Atlas ShruggedDisparate Social SystemsRand's Four UtopiasRand's "Tax" SystemPart Two: Robert Nozick (1938-2002): Utopia of UtopiasThe Most Extensive State that Can Be JustifiedThe Developing State: The First Four StagesThe Fifth StageTaxes, Forced Labor, and the Minimal State Utopia: The Minimal State FrameworkTaxation in Nozick's Utopia of UtopiasIn ClosingBibliographyIndex