Not at all. First, I pay more than I take which would make me the victim not the perpetrator. No I don’t feel guilty for being a victim. 2nd, my moral code does not hold me responsible for things I cannot control. 3rd, I do resist in the ways I reasonably can. 4th, resistance is difficult without solid alternatives. 5th, no, my morality does not require me to commit suicide to “nobly” stand against a tidal wave.
So you believe in government coercion to at least some degree. Ok.
As for my assumptions…I mean, you used the word ‘theft.’ Which for just about anyone will mean “immoral/wrong.” But, ok. You think taxation is theft and coercive, yet see it as a necessity.
So the only thing left is that there are people who think it is necessary to coerce out some more than you do.
[quote]As for practical maters; No, I do not believe that anarchy would lead to less coercion and therefore more freedom than the current system. But yes, I think the current system has long since crested the hill on the optimization curve.
[/quote]
So to some degree you do see how coercion and government can make one more free. The principle is agreed upon. It’s just how much ‘freedom’ government should create for us that is disagreed upon.
Um, no. I do not believe in it at all. But you are acknowledging that you believe in murder. It is reality. I do not like it. I do not agree with it. I do not have the absolute knowledge of how to solve the problem. Same goes for you. Are you therefore responsible for all those murders? nonsense.
First, I most certainly did no call it theft. Second, I have never stated it’s necessity. In fact the statement that I do not know means explicitly that I am not claiming it’s necessity.
Do you lie awake at night saddened by your responsibility in thousands of murders, or do you acknowledge that it isn’t you doing it while doing all reasonable and knowable things you can without jumping in front of bullets to stop them.
First, I most certainly did no call it theft. Second, [/quote]
You:
If your intent wasn’t to call it theft, what is this above? It’s literally explaining how taxation is theft (because I said I don’t like to call it theft).
I’m making exactly the assumptions you were making about me regarding taxation. If you are against murder and think it is wrong, you either think that the murder in the current system is necessary or you must be completely against the system. By your own reasoning, which is it?
But I am against murder in the system. I’m just not against killing. Like killing in defense. I am pro taxation, and anti-theft. I am pro “can’t drive drunk, can’t fist fight out in the middle of the street,” and anti-slavery.
Let’s see if I can clear the air a bit. I state that I think we crested the hill on the optimization curve “FOR THE CURRENT SYSTEM”. You are failing to acknowledge the possibility of other systems.
If I were to lay out line by line a perfect system and completely convince you to the reality, thus making government coercion entirely unnecessary in your mind, would that change your moral take of what the current government does? For me it does not. The existence or not of an unknown better system is something that I want, something that we should work toward, but my morality only requires me to do my best with what I do know.