Quote from: NotLambchop on January 07, 2015, 12:02:45 PM

Quote from: dinofelis on January 07, 2015, 05:53:34 AM

Quote from: NotLambchop on January 06, 2015, 08:26:47 PM

Taxation is no more theft than Bitcoin is child pornography

Consider this:

1) someone with a gun puts that gun against your head and tells you to pay them half of your income.
2) ten strong guys put you in a cage and tell you they will let you out if you give them half of your income.
3) ten strong guys put you in a cage, and tell you they will let you out if you buy for half of your income, beany babies.
4) ten strong guys put you in a cage, and tell you they will let you out if you pay them half of your income, and then they will make sure that no other guys will put you in a cage again.
5) the gouvernment will put you in a cage unless you pay them half of your income, and in return they will make sure that nobody else will put you in a cage. On top of that, you get a museum of modern art for it which you can then visit by paying an entrance ticket.

Where's the difference ?

Hello my born-again libertarian friend! And what a purty hobby horse it is you're riding today, never seen one quite like it before, such original, very wow!

1-4: The reason it doesn't happen is I live in a country where there are laws, and enough muscle to enforce those laws in a meaningful way. Those musclebound jackbooted thugs work up a big appetite, so some of my taxes go towards buying them fresh children to eat.
Good things cost money.

The point was not whether it happened or not, but rather what is the difference between 10 maffia thugs putting you in a cage unless you pay them, or 10 000 state-paid thugs doing the same (but carrying a police uniform or the robe of a judge instead of a leather jacket).

A gedanken-experiment, if you like. What's the difference ? Why is the former "crime" and the latter "paying taxes" ? What's the fundamental difference as seen from the individual undergoing the action ?

Quote

5. Yes, as far as making sure that no one else does, WWII certainly comes to mind. Of course, a privately funded militia of sulky middle-aged libers would have done the job far better, cheaper, and in half the time ...wait, aren't you French? Nevermind then, disregard.

No, I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about all those goods and services OTHER than protection against violence that the state buys for you in your name with your extorted money. Like public services of bad quality and high cost that you don't ask for, wellfare that you don't ask for, military adventures abroad that you don't ask for, and a lot of people on a state's payroll with ill-defined tasks but important salaries that you have to pay for.