[DominikR]

Until the first world war there was no income tax in the US. Yet they still had a society and earned money.

Edit because I'm not allowed to reply anymore to below comment: I once lived in a Communist country. Never again. I'd rater die.

[akiselev]

I'm assuming you've never lived in a country without a vast social safety net, extensive national highway network, department of education, or a well funded TVA/EPA/FDA/FTC/FCC/FAA/NIH/NSF/etc?

Trust me, "society" was very different before the federal government had vast amounts of money to fund everything we take for granted today as "government waste."