TAXPAYERS IN REVOLT - Tax Resistance During The Great Depression

The movement has roots in the 1920s boom, when local spending zoomed and taxes did too. Taxpayers were already complaining. But when the Depression hit, the taxes were become a crushing burden, and political pressure mounting to repeal them. Governments, however, were strapped for revenue. This dynamic set up a conflict that exploded in protests. The author deals with how the elites and the government (including large corporations) smeared the movement as enemies of the people and society.

Beito's book reads like a novel, complete with a tragic ending that teaches lessons for the future. Without meaning to give away the ending, the tax-revolt movement was bought down by a vast propaganda campaign, and the promise of good and better government in the future- a naive assumption that the leadership should have seen through.

There is so much to learn from here! This is a first-class piece of historical research and writing. 232 page, paperback, 2008