6 ms·

No one's stopping you from cutting them a check. Ideally you would not hold a gun to my head and demand I do the same.

• st3v3r 10y ago
  You completely missed the point. Further, this "holding a gun to your head" thing is completely asinine.
  • dbcurtis 10y ago
    Is it really? What happens if you don't pay your taxes? Eventually you will be arrested. What if you resist arrest? Do the police ask you to come along nicely with an Especially Firm Voice the second time? Eventually, someone will deploy state-sanctioned violence in this situation. Stop whistling past the grave yard. That is how government works. They have guns, and prefer that you don't, just in case you get all argumentative and pouty.
    • kalleboo 10y ago
      > What happens if you don't pay your taxes? Eventually you will be arrested. At least where I'm from, no you won't. Your debt to the state will grow and eventually they'll try to repossess it (through e.g. wage garnishing). They can't arrest you for not paying taxes.
    • st3v3r 10y ago
      "What happens if you don't pay your taxes?" What happens if you go up and steal someone's car? The same thing that happens if you break any other law. "What if you resist arrest?" The same thing that happens if you break any other law. "Eventually, someone will deploy state-sanctioned violence in this situation." And you get no sympathy from me, because in this case, you clearly broke the law.
  • h4nkoslo 10y ago
    No, I didn't. OP is trying to make this a lovely cost-free dynamic, where all we have to do is let our brother crabs get out of the bucket without dragging them down, man. That's bullshit. In reality OP proposes to transfer money from me to people who made investments in human capital that didn't pan out. Maybe that's their fault, because they invested foolishly. Maybe it's nobody's fault, because they invested in a positive-expectation bet and got bit by the variance (it does suck when you take out a loan to go to nursing school, and the feds decide to import a bunch of Filipino nurses instead). Maybe they were the victim of fraud, and someone sold them a bill of goods. In any case, it has nothing to do with me.
    • Neeek 10y ago
      But it does have to do with you? All of this affects the world you live in, the world that you interact with directly every single day. The house you live in, the wage you're paid, the food you eat, the medicine you receive, everything in your life depends on other people. Whether you agree with the way your government is handling this or not, it all still has everything to do with you.
      • h4nkoslo 10y ago
        Yeah man, like, butterfly effect, you know? Rather more direct when they're taking my money to do so. This isn't an abstract "ask not for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee" scenario, and the alternative is not personal autarky. OP is proposing a direct transfer, from me to a stranger, to which I am opposed, and therefore one which must be imposed by force. The alternative is not imposing such a transfer. Cut a check yourself if you think it's a good idea. Bullshit about the universal brotherhood of man and unity of the volk does not excuse arbitrary impositions.
        • Neeek 10y ago
          Please note, I'm not taking sides in this. Your last sentence was all I had issue with.