The thing about a lot of the “taxation is theft” arguments is they really only work as all or nothing. Once you concede there’s a utilitarian case for modest taxes, you’ve departed from the deontological all-theft-is-wrong position and you’re just arguing about degrees
@jdcmedlock "just negotiating over the price"
@jdcmedlock Taxation being theft is so funny, because the theft in real terms happens when the government gives you otherwise worthless tax credits for your stuff/time, and yet everyone loves getting paid.
@jdcmedlock Its funny how you get something similar with Nozick-style libertarianism. Once you admit that you have to rectify previous injustices, and then you notice how much real-world wealth distribution is based on past injustice, you end up (as Nozick did) recognizing that
@jdcmedlock I think it's pretty clear that a small amount of theft from me is okay and a large amount of theft from other people who aren't me is also okay
@jdcmedlock Not true at all. You can make non-utilitarian moral exceptions to theft that won't apply to utilitarian pleading.
@jdcmedlock This seems uncharitable. Most contemporary deont lie to the murderer to protect a potential victim. There are degrees of theft. Rather, I think it's wrong on the Rawlsian grounds that original theft must be accounted for.
@jdcmedlock @GeorgistSteve As someone who is fairly deontological in my ethics, I justify taxes on the grounds that you do not have a 100% right to all your your property. Property is a creature of the state, and you cannot claim an absolute right over it. Taxes can be immoral, but they are not theft.
@jdcmedlock "Stop bringing rationality into the argument!" says every MAGA everywhere.
@jdcmedlock Depends on whether some of the theft comes back in the form of services tbh