Illusion of Freedom
"When governments intervene in markets, they repeat the mistakes the countries of Eastern Europe made in the latter half of the 20th century. High taxes on competing goods is a form of indirect subsidy too. It's impossible to calculate the total damages taxation and inflation have done to society.
But think of it this way: If you're in a so-called laissez-faire country, your total taxes might look something like this:
25% income tax, 25% social-security contributions, and other taxes your employer pays. Even before we start adding hidden costs, that's about 50%.
Add a VAT adjusted for certain goods with extra taxes, like fuel for your car... That's an additional 25% of whatever you had left. So, in total, 62.5%. Make that 65% to compensate for every other tax we didn't include. Now add a best-case scenario of 5% inflation rate.
Congratulations, you live in a "free country", and you're 70% a slave."