4 ms·

Yeah but...taxes don't kill people. Warfare is pretty clearly not like taxes.

rayiner 8y ago
No, but taxes, like killing people, are unavoidable in any society of non-trivial size and complexity. You can’t have a country without taxes, just as you can’t have a country without a military. And once you have a military, why shouldn’t everyone participate at some level for the common good, just as everyone is forced to pay taxes for the common good?
- throwawaymath 8y ago
  Isn't there a pretty vast gulf between something that's unavoidable and something that should be actively encouraged? Without making any further analogies to litigate, isn't it pretty straightward that we shouldn't encourage a thing just because it frequently happens? Responding to your edit...I'm not really following anymore. Taxes are necessary and mundane. Warfare is mundane, but it's not obvious to me that it's necessary. Therefore why not get all the individual benefits of military service without joining the military?
  - rayiner 8y ago
    Mandatory military service doesn’t encourage more war, which is the bad thing you want to discourage. It encourages broad participation in preparing for and participating in war when it happens.
  - dctoedt 8y ago
    > Warfare is mundane, but it's not obvious to me that it's necessary. Warfare's not strictly necessary, but your adversary gets a vote as to whether it's desirable.
LyndsySimon 8y ago
Taxes don't kill people in the same way that an aggressively expansionist country doesn't cause wars - if you resist, then force is applied to at at least the level necessary to ensure your compliance, up to and including lethal force. A person pays their taxes and they aren't arrested. If they don't resist that arrest, they'll "only" be imprisoned. A country gives up land to their stronger neighbor and they aren't attacked. If they don't resist that annexation, they'll "only" become a vassal state.
- throwawaymath 8y ago
  I can't tell if you're agreeing or disagreeing with me?

No, but taxes, like killing people, are unavoidable in any society of non-trivial size and complexity. You can’t have a country without taxes, just as you can’t have a country without a military. And once you have a military, why shouldn’t everyone participate at some level for the common good, just as everyone is forced to pay taxes for the common good?

throwawaymath 8y ago
Isn't there a pretty vast gulf between something that's unavoidable and something that should be actively encouraged? Without making any further analogies to litigate, isn't it pretty straightward that we shouldn't encourage a thing just because it frequently happens? Responding to your edit...I'm not really following anymore. Taxes are necessary and mundane. Warfare is mundane, but it's not obvious to me that it's necessary. Therefore why not get all the individual benefits of military service without joining the military?
- rayiner 8y ago
  Mandatory military service doesn’t encourage more war, which is the bad thing you want to discourage. It encourages broad participation in preparing for and participating in war when it happens.
- dctoedt 8y ago
  > Warfare is mundane, but it's not obvious to me that it's necessary. Warfare's not strictly necessary, but your adversary gets a vote as to whether it's desirable.

LyndsySimon 8y ago

Taxes don't kill people in the same way that an aggressively expansionist country doesn't cause wars - if you resist, then force is applied to at at least the level necessary to ensure your compliance, up to and including lethal force. A person pays their taxes and they aren't arrested. If they don't resist that arrest, they'll "only" be imprisoned. A country gives up land to their stronger neighbor and they aren't attacked. If they don't resist that annexation, they'll "only" become a vassal state.

throwawaymath 8y ago
I can't tell if you're agreeing or disagreeing with me?