3 ms·

> What are my tax dollars for if not ensuring my neighbors don't freeze to death? If you really feel that way, why not offer to pay their electric bills person

• dane-pgp 5y ago
  Because that would be a tax on empathy. We shouldn't be taxing socially positive traits like empathy, but instead taxing negative traits like greed. In lieu of a moral balance for weighing souls, I'll accept a tax on accumulated wealth instead.
• xxpor 5y ago
  I agree with the sibling comment, but there's also a practical reason: I don't want to have to track down everyone that needs assistance and make a personal decision about who needs what. It's much more efficient to have a tax collector and bureaucracy. For the voluntary vs involuntary part of taxes and charity, that's a moral/ethical philosophical argument that people have been debating for thousands of years. I don't expect to convince anyone here, but I think my view is pretty clear.