And these are just as powerful and Grand-Scale as the Hundred Years Wars, the Seven Years war, the Napoleonic Wars, and about all other freaking conflicts that erupted across Europe.

You have to admit, the USA had it easy, internally-wise. A big empty territory to colonise, slave labor, with weak neighbours and savages as the only treath, and the British Empire more occupied at keeping Europe from uniting under a single rule than trying to reconquer you.

It led to the super-power we all know and love.

They could have been, had the Americans allowed them to continue.

The War of 1812 and the Civil War were definitely large-scale.

Germany had a big territory to colonise in the middle ages but somehow managed to be at war with itself all the time.

As for slave labour, the northern states (who ultimately shaped what the US would be) were not much into slavery.

When you have millions of combatants, you make headlines.  When your population is a few thousand, and everyone is carrying a gun (that is large enough to), you do not seem to make any news.  The scope was smaller because the population was smaller, but the animosity was no less than that over seas.

And easy?  Hindsight is 20-20.  But that does not change the facts.  It was not easy nor did slave labor open up the west (it was used for the established areas almost exclusively).  The "blacks" out west were almost totally free, as the means to keep them enslaved just did not exist.

Empty?  Geronimo and Cochise would beg to differ with you (and they made their displeasure well known).

It is easy to dismiss that which was and is accomplished as easy - since the people made it look that way.  However those writing the history were the ones that lived.  You do not hear from the dead.  But I suspect they would disagree with you if they had a voice.

As a country's citizen, we have the obligation to pay Tax. It is a big expense that affects every working people in the community. Most consumers will be paying more for taxes in 2013 than they did in 2012. However, that is not the only bite your pocketbook will withstand in the current year. Here is a review of just some of the things that will cost much more in this young year. (visit now located at https://personalmoneynetwork.com/)

The obligations only extends for money used for the common good.  Not for individual self enrichment.

I agree with the sentiment.

Taxes must be paid and government must use them for the common good. The common good can help the poor. In fact it should.

Government must finance itself, the police, the military, should finance fire brigades, emergency services, can finance schools, hospitals, and soup kitchens.

In fact I don't have a problem with government providing any service anyone might think the poor (or everyone) need.

But the government, I believe, MUST NOT give tax money to people. The government can and should provide services to EVERYONE, but not pay money to SPECIFIC people.

I can see four distinct positions when it comes to taxes (ignoring positions regarding what taxes there should be).

The first is people who argue against government and against taxes. They are anarchists.

The second is people who accept taxation and want minimal government.

The third is people who accept taxation and have no specific problem with the size of government. Within this group there can be stark differences as to how big government should be. I myself belong to this group and while I prefer small government, I have no ideological problem with big government.

The fourth is people who accept taxation and insist on big government and on government granting privileges (i.e. pay tax money) to certain people. This group consists of communists and other supporters of an aristocracy (government of the self-proclaimed most excellent).

The first and fourth group are the outliers, the extremists.

The second and third group cover the vast area of legitimate politics, ranging from Ayn Rand (who is not opposed to taxation and certainly not against the authority of the state) to Karl Marx (who did actually oppose a lot of what today's self-proclaimed Marxists demand).
 

The fourth group is running the insane asylum here.