3 ms·

Stop paying so much is not the same as not paying. Why are you making it otherwise?

by kordlessagain 5mo ago

abustamam 5mo ago
Oh OK, thanks for clarifying that I can pay less than I owe and be scot free.
- iamnothere 5mo ago
  Make less, pay less. If you’ve had a successful career already, you may be able to “drop out” and find a place to live cheaply. I’ve heard good things about Panama.
  - abustamam 5mo ago
    If you've had a successful career already you probably already paid a lot of taxes, unless you're a billionaire in which case you're not paying taxes anyway.
    - iamnothere 5mo ago
      The best time to start making a lifestyle change was years ago, but the second best time is today. If you can legally opt out, there’s no good reason to keep pouring tax dollars into a corrupt, possibly unfixable system.
      - abustamam 5mo ago
        So your solution to fighting against authoritarian regimes is to be rich enough to fuck off to another state/country?
        OutOfHere 5mo ago
        That would be an unfair reframing. The original intent was that erasing their tax revenue weakens the authoritarian regime by draining it of the resources needed for enforcement of unfair laws.
        abustamam 5mo ago
        I understood the original intent. I just don't think it's a viable solution. The US govt has not been shy about borrowing and printing more money to do whatever they want.
        OutOfHere 5mo ago
        That borrowing funds only the federal government, not the state government. The states don't get to borrow in the same way. Also, that borrowing will increasingly come with a high interest rate and high inflation.
        abustamam 5mo ago
        Sure but these problems exist at the federal level too. And yes the consequences are real but it still happens and is why we can't just hit the federal govt in the wallet. For the time being, elections are still free, so voting is still the most effective way, but raising awareness of stuff like this makes people more aware of who NOT to vote for next office.
        OutOfHere 5mo ago
        It's happening at the state level at this time. In any event, we don't need to hit the federal government in their wallet as they're too busy doing it to themselves with their immense exponentially-growing loan that will crush them soon enough.
        iamnothere 5mo ago
        There’s not really another good solution. At some point it will collapse on itself due to ever-compounding errors, but until then, the current structure simply absorbs all attempts to fight it. I can’t remember who pointed this out (I think it’s derived from a point originally made by Marcuse) but the difference between what we are facing in the West versus “traditional” authoritarianism is that all opposition in the West is commodified and co-opted before it can become a real threat. This is partially because our domestic oppression is typically subtle (economic and systemic) rather than obvious (forceful and directional). Force may be used in isolated instances or against already marginalized groups, but it’s not felt as a daily threat by most of the population as it is in more openly violent regimes. There is no real fear of stepping out of line, in fact stepping out of line is celebrated as long as you can then be steered into a commoditized and controlled “protest” channel. If you aren’t able to leave, the next best thing is getting to know likeminded (and intelligent/effective) people and setting up mutual aid networks, or failing to find that, to acquire the tools, resources, and skills needed to ride out the coming years as best you can.

Stop paying so much is not the same as not paying. Why are you making it otherwise?

abustamam 5mo ago

Oh OK, thanks for clarifying that I can pay less than I owe and be scot free.

iamnothere 5mo ago
Make less, pay less. If you’ve had a successful career already, you may be able to “drop out” and find a place to live cheaply. I’ve heard good things about Panama.
- abustamam 5mo ago
  If you've had a successful career already you probably already paid a lot of taxes, unless you're a billionaire in which case you're not paying taxes anyway.
  - iamnothere 5mo ago
    The best time to start making a lifestyle change was years ago, but the second best time is today. If you can legally opt out, there’s no good reason to keep pouring tax dollars into a corrupt, possibly unfixable system.
    - abustamam 5mo ago
      So your solution to fighting against authoritarian regimes is to be rich enough to fuck off to another state/country?
      - OutOfHere 5mo ago
        That would be an unfair reframing. The original intent was that erasing their tax revenue weakens the authoritarian regime by draining it of the resources needed for enforcement of unfair laws.
        abustamam 5mo ago
        I understood the original intent. I just don't think it's a viable solution. The US govt has not been shy about borrowing and printing more money to do whatever they want.
        OutOfHere 5mo ago
        That borrowing funds only the federal government, not the state government. The states don't get to borrow in the same way. Also, that borrowing will increasingly come with a high interest rate and high inflation.
        abustamam 5mo ago
        Sure but these problems exist at the federal level too. And yes the consequences are real but it still happens and is why we can't just hit the federal govt in the wallet. For the time being, elections are still free, so voting is still the most effective way, but raising awareness of stuff like this makes people more aware of who NOT to vote for next office.
        OutOfHere 5mo ago
        It's happening at the state level at this time. In any event, we don't need to hit the federal government in their wallet as they're too busy doing it to themselves with their immense exponentially-growing loan that will crush them soon enough.
      - iamnothere 5mo ago
        There’s not really another good solution. At some point it will collapse on itself due to ever-compounding errors, but until then, the current structure simply absorbs all attempts to fight it. I can’t remember who pointed this out (I think it’s derived from a point originally made by Marcuse) but the difference between what we are facing in the West versus “traditional” authoritarianism is that all opposition in the West is commodified and co-opted before it can become a real threat. This is partially because our domestic oppression is typically subtle (economic and systemic) rather than obvious (forceful and directional). Force may be used in isolated instances or against already marginalized groups, but it’s not felt as a daily threat by most of the population as it is in more openly violent regimes. There is no real fear of stepping out of line, in fact stepping out of line is celebrated as long as you can then be steered into a commoditized and controlled “protest” channel. If you aren’t able to leave, the next best thing is getting to know likeminded (and intelligent/effective) people and setting up mutual aid networks, or failing to find that, to acquire the tools, resources, and skills needed to ride out the coming years as best you can.