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If not theft, would you not agree that it's certainly excessive? Did you support government giving your tax money to the banks in 2008 or the automakers in 2009

If not theft, would you not agree that it's certainly excessive? Did you support government giving your tax money to the banks in 2008 or the automakers in 2009? If you didn't support it, did you still pay your taxes? If so, why? fwiw, I think the "taxes are theft" argument is often used as a response of exasperation against what appears to be systemic misuse of public money. I suspect that the vast majority of people who would repeat that, would also agree that some form of the "social contract" is necessary. They probably just disagree on what specific level of government involvement makes sense. ie: rather than expanding the size of government, why not reduce the size of government. Wouldn't that free up more productive labor that could grow the pie for everyone? Maybe government doesn't need to be picking winners and losers in a free market - or at least less so than they currently do.

anthonypasq 4y ago
people that say taxation is theft categorically do not believe in the social contract. this isnt a friendly debate about when government spending becomes expensive, they literally dont think taxes should exist. its like claiming a full blown Stalinist simply disagrees with the level of private ownership people expect. now as to whether its just some refrain out of exasperation, maybe pick some words that accurately explain how youre feeling instead of saying something moronic and expecting everyone else to read your mind as to what you were actually trying to say.
- 0xbadc0de5 4y ago
  > people that say taxation is theft categorically do not believe in the social contract. I have not seen any evidence to support that. In fact I see plenty of evidence against that. Most people have nuanced opinions on most subjects - myself included. That's not to say that there aren't some people who think that way, but all? Most? No, I don't think that's a fair assessment. > this isnt a friendly debate about when government spending becomes expensive, they literally dont think taxes should exist. its like claiming a full blown Stalinist simply disagrees with the level of private ownership people expect. Your reaction seems extreme. So what if they legit think that - that seems like an opinion that could be debated, not a crime requiring punishment. As for the rest of your reply - I think name-calling is inappropriate. Maybe focus on substance?

anthonypasq 4y ago

people that say taxation is theft categorically do not believe in the social contract. this isnt a friendly debate about when government spending becomes expensive, they literally dont think taxes should exist. its like claiming a full blown Stalinist simply disagrees with the level of private ownership people expect. now as to whether its just some refrain out of exasperation, maybe pick some words that accurately explain how youre feeling instead of saying something moronic and expecting everyone else to read your mind as to what you were actually trying to say.

0xbadc0de5 4y ago
> people that say taxation is theft categorically do not believe in the social contract. I have not seen any evidence to support that. In fact I see plenty of evidence against that. Most people have nuanced opinions on most subjects - myself included. That's not to say that there aren't some people who think that way, but all? Most? No, I don't think that's a fair assessment. > this isnt a friendly debate about when government spending becomes expensive, they literally dont think taxes should exist. its like claiming a full blown Stalinist simply disagrees with the level of private ownership people expect. Your reaction seems extreme. So what if they legit think that - that seems like an opinion that could be debated, not a crime requiring punishment. As for the rest of your reply - I think name-calling is inappropriate. Maybe focus on substance?