Re: Final Challenge to Socialists

Dan Fabulich (daniel.fabulich@yale.edu)
Fri, 11 Dec 1998 09:44:04 -0500

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-