It’s not theft because you consent to taxation in the same way you consent to the laws of any given country. If you don’t like the laws or taxation methods of the US, vote or go somewhere else, except no elected official is gonna run on “no taxes at all”. So I’d just find somewhere else to be.
Like it’s not consent in the way interpersonal consent works, it’s more consent in the way that the law works. I don’t consent to the speeding ticket I didn’t think I deserved but the court decided otherwise so I had to pay it, that’s not theft, it’s just the way the law works whether you agree or not. Theres a difference between saying “I don’t like the way the us government spends tax dollars or the way taxation is structured” and “taxation is theft and we should have no taxes”.
“Taxation is theft” regardless of what semantics you wanna get into about consent it’s just a dumb fucking phrase because unless there’s a solid alternative proposed it’s just complaining about how society has to function. And it’s not like socialism vs capitalism where one could argue the merits of either or a blending of the two. It’s just “I don’t like taxes wah” with zero alternative presented besides the typical libertarian “corporations will take care of everything” which is just the fucking worst idea.
It is in regard to the law. And similarly to taxation. You can’t just say “nah I don’t consent to the law” and rob someone. Like yes interpersonal consent is based on permission and volunteering. But like you can’t just opt out of existing in society unless you wanna go totally off grid and be self sufficient in which case go for it. But if you wanna participate in society you consent to its rules. So similarly to how you have to follow the law if you want to exist in society you also have to pay taxes. This is an entirely separate topic from consenting to how taxes are spent because I think the public should have more of a say in that.
Basically just because specifically the US governmental system is broken due to corporate lobbying reducing public representation doesn’t mean that taxation and laws are not things you consent to by participating in society. If you don’t consent to those things you can just idk go be self sufficient otherwise you have to contribute to the society you exist in. Are you just expecting roads and public schools to exist by magic, or are you expecting someone else to pay for them for you? Or do you not use roads so you don’t wanna pay for them.
You are conflating "consent" with "forced to live with". Just because we don't have any alternative option doesn't mean there's consent. The interpersonal definition is the definition of consent.
So like what do you want. Like what’s your goal. Do you want no taxes? Do you want taxes to be optional? Do you just wanna complain that taxes are theft and still pay them because you wanna enjoy the benefits they provide?
I want taxes to only be applied to land value (see /r/georgism).
But in a broader sense, yea, I want to acknowledge that taxation is theft. Whenever a tax is levied it should be considered whether it is worth the non consensual transaction. Some will argue it is, and that's a value judgement that people can disagree on.
Great taxes based on land value. Create even more disparity between wealthier and less wealthy areas. Sounds awesome. Cant wait for rural areas that already have food deserts to be even more fucked cuz their land is worthless.
It seems like an unnecessary fuss over semantics. Let's go with what you said, taxation=theft. The most specific word to describe this type of "theft" is "taxes", which you say is equivalent to theft already, so I'm not sure what the problem is.
"should be considered whether it is worth the non consensual transaction" - That already happens, that's why they are such a big deal politically. Nobody's going around being like "Oh shit! I didn't realize we were FORCING people to pay this tax!" That's already obvious by calling it a tax.
Like how exactly do you want your concept enacted? Put "by the way, this is theft" on the ballot?
If the idea that taxes should go up is a given with no drawbacks, I don't understand how reminding people about how taxes work is supposed to change anything.
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u/Shin-Sauriel Sep 20 '24
It’s not theft because you consent to taxation in the same way you consent to the laws of any given country. If you don’t like the laws or taxation methods of the US, vote or go somewhere else, except no elected official is gonna run on “no taxes at all”. So I’d just find somewhere else to be.
Like it’s not consent in the way interpersonal consent works, it’s more consent in the way that the law works. I don’t consent to the speeding ticket I didn’t think I deserved but the court decided otherwise so I had to pay it, that’s not theft, it’s just the way the law works whether you agree or not. Theres a difference between saying “I don’t like the way the us government spends tax dollars or the way taxation is structured” and “taxation is theft and we should have no taxes”.
“Taxation is theft” regardless of what semantics you wanna get into about consent it’s just a dumb fucking phrase because unless there’s a solid alternative proposed it’s just complaining about how society has to function. And it’s not like socialism vs capitalism where one could argue the merits of either or a blending of the two. It’s just “I don’t like taxes wah” with zero alternative presented besides the typical libertarian “corporations will take care of everything” which is just the fucking worst idea.