Excise taxes are far less nefarious. Direct taxation is both immoral and unethical. But, when has government ever been ethical or morally sound?
The sheer idea of the state is the monopoly on the use of force and violence. That is the nicest thing that can be said about government. It is considered a necessary evil for a reason.
Any government is bad.
If you think you have good government then you are delusional and all you have to do is wait and it will get bad.
If you already have bad government then just wait because it will get worse. We have seen that since Obama got elected, haven't we?
You can design good government like a republic with a very strong bill of rights protecting the citizens from government getting out of hand but it will eventually be corrupted due to greed and lust for power. At the end of the day men in power are the ones to interpret what the rights really are.
This country is too far gone to be fixed at the ballot box or even changing the Constitution. It is like rearranging the chairs on the deck of the Titanic.