Taxation Is Theft
View this post on Hive: Taxation Is Theft
6 years ago in #dmania by antimedia (60)
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I think Libertarianism would become more widely adopted if Libertarians would just drop this one saying: "Taxation is theft."
Taxation is indeed coercive in nature - even if you agree to pay it, it's always potentially coercive, due to the State having a monopoly on 'legitimate' violence or threats thereof.
I think Steemit is a great experiment to determine if the super-rich will voluntarily put money into helping those less fortunate than themselves.
Thus far, I think that the results are mixed. There are a lot of individuals, particularly those associated with PAL, who put a lot of their own time and SBD/Steem into making sure newcomers have good start here - often with the effect being a slight reduction in inequality.
On the other hand, there are people sitting on serious amounts of Steem, with little apparent interest in anything other than advancing their own wealth and profile. Though, to be fair, some of the conversations I've had left me with the impression that it never actually occurred to them that they were spending the equivalent of a week's worth of US minimum wage every day to buy up-votes. Other people seem like they literally never thought of using their SP, wealth and/or influence to do something good for people struggling to make ends meet (not necessarily a hand-out either).
Taxation might well be theft. But what of allowing, through our own inaction, people to suffer where relief is within our power to grant? This might not be illegal, nor does the Steem code forces us to be unselfish. Nonetheless, such inaction might be a moral failing, one that we should voluntarily seek to overcome.