5 ms·

The tax-man and the police state are the oppressors, not the taxed and the prosecuted.

sealeck 4y ago
> The tax-man and the police state are the oppressors The oppressors _of whom_? For example taxing billionaires is not "oppression". I completely agree that modern tax policy is much too burdensome on relatively poor individuals in comparison to relatively wealthy ones (certainly given the amount of money spent on policing petty crime compared to catching large-scale tax evasion), but that isn't to say we shouldn't have taxes!
- catiopatio 4y ago
  > The oppressors _of whom_? The taxed and the prosecuted. Taxes aren’t an inherent ethical imperative, and certainly not something for which we should accept endless government intrusion in service of the collection thereof. Taxes are an imperfect mechanism for funding an imperfect state, not an innate moral right to spend the fruits of others’ labor.
  - sealeck 4y ago
    > The taxed and the prosecuted. You said this before but which taxed people and which prosecuted are you thinking of? > Taxes aren’t an inherent ethical imperative Even if this is not true, there are certainly a number of pragmatic reasons to support them (it turns out it's much nicer to live somewhere where there is a fair and just judicial system, a functioning education system, roads/bridges/etc, internet, clean water, sewage systems and social protection for the less fortunate and well off).
prox 4y ago
That really depends on your locale
Quarrelsome 4y ago
taxation is not oppression, it is the means of seeking to fund the government. Taxation is applied in almost every EU nation on a sliding scale that almost entirely ensures that it is evenly applied to every single citizen. I would argue that formulating this scenario as "oppression" demonstrates that you do not accept the democratic mandate of government and view government as an enemy which you should hide your earnings from.
- akimball 4y ago
  No, taxes do not fund governments in the modern era.
  - Quarrelsome 4y ago
    sorry, what is it you mean exactly?

> The tax-man and the police state are the oppressors The oppressors _of whom_? For example taxing billionaires is not "oppression". I completely agree that modern tax policy is much too burdensome on relatively poor individuals in comparison to relatively wealthy ones (certainly given the amount of money spent on policing petty crime compared to catching large-scale tax evasion), but that isn't to say we shouldn't have taxes!

catiopatio 4y ago
> The oppressors _of whom_? The taxed and the prosecuted. Taxes aren’t an inherent ethical imperative, and certainly not something for which we should accept endless government intrusion in service of the collection thereof. Taxes are an imperfect mechanism for funding an imperfect state, not an innate moral right to spend the fruits of others’ labor.
- sealeck 4y ago
  > The taxed and the prosecuted. You said this before but which taxed people and which prosecuted are you thinking of? > Taxes aren’t an inherent ethical imperative Even if this is not true, there are certainly a number of pragmatic reasons to support them (it turns out it's much nicer to live somewhere where there is a fair and just judicial system, a functioning education system, roads/bridges/etc, internet, clean water, sewage systems and social protection for the less fortunate and well off).

prox 4y ago

That really depends on your locale

Quarrelsome 4y ago

taxation is not oppression, it is the means of seeking to fund the government. Taxation is applied in almost every EU nation on a sliding scale that almost entirely ensures that it is evenly applied to every single citizen. I would argue that formulating this scenario as "oppression" demonstrates that you do not accept the democratic mandate of government and view government as an enemy which you should hide your earnings from.

akimball 4y ago
No, taxes do not fund governments in the modern era.
- Quarrelsome 4y ago
  sorry, what is it you mean exactly?