Second, taxes don't disappear into nothingness - they pay for civilization. It is clearly beneficial to everyone to live in a society where people are well care

Second, taxes don't disappear into nothingness - they pay for civilization. It is clearly beneficial to everyone to live in a society where people are well cared for and have healthcare, public education, welfare, etc. Or, and that's another possibility we should consider, taxes disappear into the pockets of bureaucrats and a handful of rent seekers with very little effect on civilization. Before arguing for additional taxes, one must first show some evidence that we're getting reasonable ROI on what we're already paying, and https://transparentcalifornia.com/ https://transparentcalifornia.com/ shows exactly the opposite. I am 100% in support for public healthcare, for example, but it will continue to look like a financial absurd as long as a knee MRI is 3x of any other country. Same thing with the higher education, public housing, etc.