This guy handrev on X makes a good point here. Payroll withholding is government's most insidious innovation—a psychological sleight of hand that makes citizens forget they're being robbed. Before 1943, Americans wrote checks to the IRS every quarter, feeling every dollar leave their hands. The pain was immediate and visceral. Politicians faced constant revolt over tax increases because people actually noticed. But Milton Friedman's wartime "innovation" changed everything. Now your employer quietly siphons money before you ever see it, and the government sends you a "refund" of your own money as if it's a gift. The average American celebrates getting back $3,000 of the $15,000 that was taken from them all year—Stockholm syndrome at scale. The boiling frog analogy fits perfectly here. If you suddenly had to write a $1,200 check to the government every month instead of automatic withholding, you'd demand accountability for every wasteful program. You'd ask why your "representatives" spend trillions bombing foreign countries while your roads crumble. And you'd probably stop voting for anyone who promised to expand government programs funded by your labor. The system deliberately obscures the largest expense in most people's lives. Between income tax, payroll tax, and the employer's "contribution" that reduces your potential salary, the average worker surrenders 30-40% of their productive output. That's more than medieval serfs paid their lords—but at least serfs saw the transaction happening.
