Have you ever known anybody who hasn't "paid their fair share" of taxes (according to the letter of the IRS code, at least)? Or maybe even somebody who ingested something deemed "dangerous" by the FDA, like raw milk? Or who entered into a voluntary transaction with another human adult in which nobody was harmed or coerced into doing anything?
That last one can literally apply to any kind of transaction you want to imagine.
Have you noticed what happens to these people when the government learns of their mortal sins? Families stolen. Entire life's work, taken (and spent on margarita machines for the local precinct - "Money from Heaven," they call it). Lives lost to a cage. For participating in actions that harmed no person involuntarily.
People are still crucified in this day and age. And it is on an unimaginably pervasive scale. If any one of us "normal" people were to try a tenth of the crap the government pulls, we could be sentenced to multiple life sentences without the possibility of parole. This has happened again recently, when Ross Albrecht was convicted (corruptedly, unconvincingly) of operating a website. In the interest of full disclosure, I'm not 100% sure about the parole part.
If you or I tried to collect taxes from our neighbors for the privilege of living in their own homes or working at their own jobs, we would be (rightly) seen as robbers and extortionists. If we tried to pull someone over and demand money from them because we noticed they weren't wearing their seat belt, that person would think we were a lunatic. If we tried to put someone in a cage for collecting rain water on their own property, we might be committed to an asylum. Yet somehow, it seems completely normal to most people when someone wearing a costume claims the right (a "right" which was given to them by who, again?) to do these things.
I keep coming across people who simply can't imagine life without an overriding parental figure to watch over them and guide their life. Keep them safe from bullies. They can't see past the obvious questions because they don't want to. And I can't blame them for that.
Have you ever stopped and wondered what the difference is between the government and the mafia? Both steal peoples' money. Both give people rules to live by, and punish them if those rules are broken. Both will ultimately use violence against you - up to and including murdering you - in order to maintain their power. I honestly can't see any difference at all between the two. The only thing that makes them different is someone's perception. Most likely because of the 14,000 hours of their most formative years spent in public classrooms, a lot of people perceive the thuggish actions of their government to be legitimate and just. It doesn't matter how demonstrably horrible the people in government are, in the eyes of the indoctrinated, they can never be on the wrong side of history.
We have to move past this point in our history. Nothing lasts forever, and our current way of life is no exception. Too many people choose not to think critically about some of the "essential" services provided by the public sector. And so, they can't imagine life without a central authority using violent, coercive force to steal money from peaceful people and provide these services. There is always a better way than holding a gun to Peter's head and demanding money to pay Paul. There's always a voluntary way to get things done.
Why don't we tackle just the most obvious one? "Who will build the roads?" When I think about it, I think: The exact same individuals who build them now. I don't believe it is a monolithic leviathan that magically wills roads into existence. I think it's the work of people - people who want to get paid. If I want a service, I'd much rather kick a few bucks towards the people doing the job than sending money to some intermediary who's going to keep most of it just to keep its fat face full and its bombs dropping.
Are you comfortable with being complicit in something like the United States foreign policy? Or even (and especially) its domestic policy? I would never voluntarily agree to pay for most of the crap these sociopaths want. As is, I don't have a choice in the matter. If I refuse to go along with this system - a system which is morally repugnant to nearly all the values I hold most dear - men with guns will eventually show up at my house to demand their tribute. And we all know what happens when you refuse to cooperate with a psycho holding you at gunpoint.Until the world changes, remember to pay the blood money. One way or another, they'll get their pound of flesh.
"America is at that awkward stage where it's too late to work within the system, but too soon to just shoot the bastards." - Claire Wolfe
"So we keep on waiting....waiting on the world to change." - John Mayer
