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There is a pretty clear logical flaw here. Nothing is produced in a vacuum. Your ability to create, to generate wealth, is heavily reliant on the infrastructure
by sshumaker 15y ago
There is a pretty clear logical flaw here. Nothing is produced in a vacuum. Your ability to create, to generate wealth, is heavily reliant on the infrastructure and services provided by your society (electricity, defense, roads, education, etc).
In other words, if Bill Gates had been born in Somalia, chances are he wouldn't be nearly as successful.
Taxation is how you repay your debt to the society that enabled your success.
- jes 15y agoActually, Rand's view was that government wouldn't provide electricity, roads and education. These goods and services would be private and paid for by the people who wanted to use them. Defense was a different matter, in that in her view, that was one of the legitimate functions of government -- protecting the individual rights of the citizens. Rand acknowledged that every generation stands on the shoulders of the productive people who came before them. Yes, if Bill Gates was born in Somalia he probably wouldn't have followed the path he did. If Somalia was a nation where individual rights were respected, as Rand advocated, everyone in Somalia would be much better off.