Why Excessive Taxes Lead to Society’s Collapse and Not Progress

        Imagine a society as a garden: to flourish, it needs water, sunlight, and care, but if you drown the plants with too much water, they don’t just stop growing—they rot. Excessive taxes work the same way. They promise to nourish progress, but when poorly measured, they stifle initiative, smother creativity, and erode the foundation of what sustains a nation: the work and dreams of its people. As someone who has devoted a lifetime to neuroscience, politics, and economics, I invite you—leaders, workers, citizens—to look beyond short-term promises and understand why an unbalanced tax system doesn’t build bridges to the future but digs holes beneath our feet. This is a call to reflection, action, and, above all, hope that we can do better.

Let’s start with the basics: taxes are essential. They fund schools, hospitals, roads—things none of us can build alone. But there’s a limit, a tipping point where the tax burden stops being a collective investment and becomes an unbearable weight. Recent studies from Harvard University, for instance, show that when taxation exceeds about 30% of average income, economic growth slows significantly. Why? Because the money that could be reinvested in new businesses, education, or innovation gets trapped in a cycle of bureaucracy and inefficient redistribution. Take Elon Musk as an example: he has publicly stated that high taxes in the U.S. prompted him to move Tesla’s headquarters to Texas, where the tax burden is lighter. This isn’t selfishness—it’s a sign that even the most successful feel the strain of a system that punishes more than it rewards.

Now bring this to your own life. If you’re a worker, you’ve felt the sting of your paycheck shrinking each month. If you’re an entrepreneur, you know how hard it is to keep a business alive when half your profit goes to the government before you can even pay your employees. Neuroscience helps us understand this: excessive financial pressure triggers cortisol, the stress hormone, which blocks creativity and the ability to plan for the future. Research from the University of Cambridge shows that populations under heavy tax burdens experience higher anxiety levels and lower productivity. Antônio Carlos dos Santos, with his MAT methodology (Mindset, Action, and Theater), teaches us that changing this reality starts with a new mindset: leaders must stop seeing citizens as endless revenue sources and start viewing them as partners in a greater project.

But the issue isn’t just individual—it’s systemic. When taxes rise too high, the economy enters a vicious cycle. Businesses close, jobs vanish, and the government, desperate for more revenue, raises taxes even further. Look at Greece during the 2008 crisis: austerity and high taxes caused GDP to plummet by 25% in just a few years, while unemployment soared. The Greek people, resilient and hardworking, were suffocated by a system that demanded more than they could give. Here, the Theater Movement (ThM), another creation by Antônio Carlos dos Santos, comes into play: it urges us to dramatize this reality, to bring the human impact of these policies to the stage of public consciousness. It’s not just about numbers—it’s about lives, dreams, and families who deserve to thrive, not just survive.

And what happens to the collective brain of a nation under this strain? Political neuroscience, a field I’ve explored for years, shows that excessive state control—often funded by high taxes—reduces people’s sense of autonomy. A study from the London School of Economics found that societies with greater economic freedom (and thus lower taxation) have citizens who are more engaged and confident in the future. Think of Nelson Mandela: he fought for freedom, but also for a system that empowered people to build their own lives. Excessive taxes steal that power, turning citizens into cogs in a machine that doesn’t always work well.

On the flip side, some argue that higher taxes mean more equality. It’s an appealing idea, but the data tells a different story. A recent University of Chicago report indicates that in countries where taxation exceeds 40% of GDP, inequality doesn’t decrease—it stabilizes or even grows, because the wealthy find ways to escape (offshores, tax evasion), while the poor remain trapped. In Sweden, for example, the welfare model works because high taxes are balanced by state efficiency—something Brazil, for instance, has yet to achieve. Here, MAT challenges us to act: it’s not enough to copy models; we need solutions that respect our reality and encourage everyone’s active participation.

Let’s talk inspiration now. Think of someone like Oprah Winfrey, who rose from poverty to build an empire. She’s said that success comes from having room to dream and work hard—room that excessive taxes take away from millions every day. When the government takes more than it needs, it’s not just taking money; it’s taking hope. Studies from Stanford University show that intrinsic motivation—that spark that drives us to create, innovate, and persevere—is stifled in high-tax-pressure environments. The ThM invites us to stage this struggle, to show the world that every worker, every leader, every young dreamer deserves a platform to shine, not a burden that dims their light.

And what about the future? A society collapsed by high taxes isn’t just less prosperous—it’s less creative, less alive. Neuroscience tells us that chronic financial uncertainty reduces brain plasticity, our ability to adapt and innovate. Countries like Singapore, with an average tax burden of 14% of GDP, prove the opposite: rapid growth, constant innovation, and enviable quality of life. It’s no coincidence. It’s evidence that giving people financial breathing room makes them stronger, bolder, and more capable of building a better tomorrow.

So, what can we do? Leaders, listen to the people: fewer taxes, more efficiency. Workers, raise your voices: your sweat deserves to be valued, not confiscated. And all of us, as a society, can adopt the MAT mindset: believe we can change, act to demand accountability, and use the theater of public life to show what we want. A University of Oxford study suggests that simple tax reforms, focused on easing the burden on small businesses and workers, could boost GDP by up to 5% in a decade. It’s a number, but behind it are transformed lives, stabilized families, and realized dreams.

In the end, collapse isn’t inevitable—it’s a choice. Excessive taxes are like chains that bind human potential, but we hold the key: knowledge, courage, and collective action. Let’s draw inspiration from figures like Mahatma Gandhi, who proved that peaceful resistance can topple oppressive systems. Let’s use Antônio Carlos dos Santos’s tools—MAT and ThM—to rewrite our story. We don’t want a society that crawls under the weight of the present; we want one that soars toward the future. And that starts with you, with me, with all of us saying “enough” to excess and “yes” to true progress.

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