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It might be a two-sided transaction, but we don't really have a choice, do we? If we knew then what we know now, maybe people wouldn't have wanted the governme

It might be a two-sided transaction, but we don't really have a choice, do we? If we knew then what we know now, maybe people wouldn't have wanted the government to subsidize the automobile by creating our road system's infrastructure. Hey, maybe people won't even want the internet in another twenty years. And I know for a fact that plenty of people in the US don't appreciate the way law enforcement keeps them "safe". Same for the military. I find this whole, "let me laundry-list things the government does, many of which it didn't really ask for permission to serve, as a justification for its existence," to be a fairly empty excuse for taxation. I appreciate what I get on some level, but I recognize that the government isn't 100% perfect and that my successes aren't that dependent on, say, my high school guidance counselor.

coldtea 8y ago
>It might be a two-sided transaction, but we don't really have a choice, do we? We don't have a choice with any LAW. It's what the society has decided, with the means the society has to decide things (elections, and so on). >I find this whole, "let me laundry-list things the government does, many of which it didn't really ask for permission to serve, as a justification for its existence" That's what elections are for -- and even more so, active participation in politics every day (including with violent protests when it calls for it). If the population hardly deserves the title of "citizen" (active participant in the politics of the polis), and just casts a vote every 4 years (if that), then they don't get to complain that they pay more taxes than they want, or the government does X which they don't want. The exception being if there's a tyrannical government, or opaque procedures out of their reach, or the control has been shifted away from their reach and they're e.g. a protectorate (which also can happen).

coldtea 8y ago

>It might be a two-sided transaction, but we don't really have a choice, do we? We don't have a choice with any LAW. It's what the society has decided, with the means the society has to decide things (elections, and so on). >I find this whole, "let me laundry-list things the government does, many of which it didn't really ask for permission to serve, as a justification for its existence" That's what elections are for -- and even more so, active participation in politics every day (including with violent protests when it calls for it). If the population hardly deserves the title of "citizen" (active participant in the politics of the polis), and just casts a vote every 4 years (if that), then they don't get to complain that they pay more taxes than they want, or the government does X which they don't want. The exception being if there's a tyrannical government, or opaque procedures out of their reach, or the control has been shifted away from their reach and they're e.g. a protectorate (which also can happen).