by James W. Harris

A "man tax" should be imposed on all men, to cover the cost to society of violent acts committed by a few men against women.

That's the novel proposal of a group of Swedish members of parliament.

"It must be obvious to all of us that society has a huge problem with male violence against women and that has a cost," announced Gudrun Schyman, Left Party deputy and former party leader, last week. "We must have a discussion where men understand they as a group have a responsibility."

The text of the proposal reads, in part:

"When the costs of this aspect of socially destructive male behavior are added up, it becomes clear how much money men's violence costs society -- money which could be used to increase women's income, for healthcare, better working environments, and so on. It's then only natural to ask how men collectively should take economic responsibility for men's violence against women."

Six Left Party members of parliament have signed on to a motion to explore the idea. Schyman received considerable attention in 2002 when she claimed that discrimination against women in liberal Sweden followed "the same pattern" as in Taliban-era Afghanistan.

Sweden is already drowning in taxes. It imposes the highest taxes in the European Union in order to pay for its famous -- and steadily crumbling -- cradle-to-grave welfare state.

Incidentally, support for the man-tax idea is hardly limited to Sweden. Way back in 1991, U.S. feminist June Stephenson wrote a book with the catchy title "Men Are Not Cost-Effective," in which she argued for taxing men an extra $100 a year, in order to cover some of the costs of the vast social harm she alleged the male species collectively wreaks upon women. Her book remains in print today, and presumably continues to win converts.

Indeed, given the U.S.'s long history of eagerly embracing the looniest kinds of coercive social reforms, the "man tax" may ultimately find more fertile soil here than Sweden.

(Sources: http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=oddlyEnoughNews&storyID=6418346

http://www.thelocal.se/article.php?ID=468&date=20041005

 http://www.washingtontimes.com/commentary/20040425-102740-9436r.htm )

From THE LIBERATOR ONLINE, October 6, 2004 / Vol. 9, No. 17