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> These taxes are non-voluntary and coerced from me under threat of force Just to be clear, what this really means is that you aren't willing to go to jail for
by magicalist 12y ago
> These taxes are non-voluntary and coerced from me under threat of force
Just to be clear, what this really means is that you aren't willing to go to jail for your principles.
That's fine and you're in good company under that criteria, but that's what the GP was getting at.
- jes 12y agoThank you for a thought-provoking comment. Do you think that refusing to pay one's taxes, and thereby ultimately going to jail, is the best way to make a principled stand against the idea that taxation is theft? As I understand it, in any specific context there are many principles to be considered in making a decision as to how to act. For example, "Strive to act rationally" is an important principle for me. I try to act based on reason and evidence, to the best of my ability to do so. Would you consider someone who chose to make a headlong rush at the IRS and their most sacred rule as acting rationally? I would say such a person was tilting at windmills. I think there are more effective ways for me to work for virtue and justice in the world. In other words, I don't see being principled as necessarily requiring martyrdom.