BLACK MONEY - A DECEPTIVE IDEA

The words ‘Black Money’ catch almost everyone's attention instantaneously and arouse curiosity as to the story behind it and about those involved. If someone’s name gets connected with hoarding black money, we tend to look at them with disdain as if the person has committed a big crime. The general thinking is that black money is bad.

The intent of this article is to present a contrary view on the very idea of black money and to prove and affirm that Black Money is not actually so black and tainted as many people are led to believe. In this article, we will find out how the idea of labeling unaccounted money as black is deceptive, what constitutes this deception and who stands to profit or to lose from it.

What is Black money?
There are many prevailing definitions of black money, among them, the most common is that black money is money that is earned illegally and not disclosed for taxation. The general perception among people is that illegal is always wrong but in truth it is not so.

To understand black money, we must first understand what is illegal. Illegal is not necessarily something that is wrong but it is something that is done outside the government set laws. Hence, the illegally earned money does not necessarily mean that the money has been earned by dishonest means but rather that it is the money which has just not been disclosed to the government. Hence, a reasonable definition of black money would be, ‘The money which is unaccounted to the government is called 'Black Money.'

Who is it that wants so desperately to label the unaccounted money as 'black' and make it sound so ominous and dishonest? Who stands to gain the most by labeling unaccounted money as black money? Surely, it is not the people who stand to gain but in fact it is the government which profits by labeling unaccounted money as black money. The government wants huge amounts of money to function for which it must tax people to the maximum and therefore it requires an account of all their earnings. However, the important question one must ask is whether the government itself, in reality, ever gives a fair accounting of the amount it collects as taxes. There is no such accounting.
 

It is stated that the idea of black money is most needed to indict criminals who make huge sums of money by unscrupulous means; but then why penalize the entire population for the misdeeds of a few?! The idea of black money is in actuality a means to facilitate more taxation of people’s earnings.

Money is money and most of the money is usually earned by honest trade among people. The idea of black money is a flawed idea. It is put into place in order to deceive everyone into thinking that black money is necessarily dishonest money and people who have this kind of money are definitely dishonest too. If the government lets people keep what they earn then the people will not be forced to hoard money in order to escape excessive taxation. On the contrary, they will invest freely in new enterprises, thus creating even greater and more sustainable growth. It is wrong to think that the government can do a better job at utilizing the tax money than the people themselves. History demonstrates that the governments have never been able to utilize tax money more efficiently than its free willed citizens. It is precisely because of the government's inefficiency and lack of accountability, that results in a perpetual rise in taxes, leaving lesser money in our pockets. The idea of projecting black money as always necessarily being bad is nothing but a cheap gimmick to tax everyone at an ever increasing rate.
 

If only people could keep and utilize their earnings as they wish, there would be without doubt great prosperity for all but this can never happen until the idea of black money is exposed and rejected, thus paving the way for a free economic system where one can unhesitatingly unleash one's productive abilities without fear of anyone taking away their rightfully deserved earnings.