From: Dan Fabulich (daniel.fabulich@yale.edu)
Date: Fri Dec 11 1998 - 07:44:04 MST
Eric Ruud wrote:
>>Tax = theft.
>>
>> Avoiding taxes has the same moral value as avoiding theft.
>
>That is assuming that you gain nothing from the particular government under
>which you live. Unless you're prepared to remove yourself from the system (a
>la Thoreau) you can't make this claim.
I don't have to gain NOTHING, just less than the gov't is taking from me.
Similarly, if I were a robber and I took your wallet with all of your
credit cards and $100 worth of cash, and forced you to accept a backrub in
return, you would nonetheless have been robbed. You could have gotten the
backrub elsewhere more cheaply, and at your own leisure. The fact that I
forced you to accept my services in exchange for a price of MY choosing is
what makes it theft.
-Dan
-GIVE ME IMMORTALITY OR GIVE ME DEATH-
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.5 : Fri Nov 01 2002 - 14:49:57 MST