Giving government officials the power to collect taxes is bad enough. Giving the ability to determine what you *should* be making is worse.

Thousands in back taxes ride on one question: Is Venus de Mars a professional or amateur artist?

After more than six months of paperwork and interviews, the Minnesota Department of Revenue ruled that de Mars is not a professional artist.

It listed several reasons, chief among them that de Mars took too much pleasure from her work, and didn’t work hard enough to make a profit. As a result, state officials say she owes thousands of dollars in back taxes.

Ye gods. I know that on this planet of seven-plus billion people, there should be a market to sell thousands of copies of, say, Aerospace Projects Review. And yet I only sell dozens. Does this mean some bureaucratic busybody will decide that I should pay taxes on what I *should* sell, and that I’m just being lazy?