Taxation is theft

[melon]

Originally Posted by Kieran McConville

Well anyway, the argument about taxation greatly predates our modern 'retail democracy', and indeed democracy itself. I'd say the practical argument about taxation ended around the time that kings took upon themselves the right to make war, or indeed to do anything much. In Britain's case, about a millenium.

But this is where I say that taxation can only be considered theft in an unfree society. In communism, you can certainly blame the government, because you have no alternatives to them or the candidates they choose. In a modern representative democracy, where we, in theory, have limitless parties to choose from, it is our fault if we choose bad leaders ultimately. We are not forced into a two-party system, but if everyone votes that way, that's what we get. In other words, a representative democratic government is only as bad as its voters.

[Kieran McConville]

True enough. I guess my point is that the era of absolute monarchs left behind one important legacy: the existence of a state. Democratic or otherwise, it's rare that the vaccuum not be filled by something - and indeed, taxation is a fundamental.