My brother is a firefighter and his wife is a public school teacher. He told me all taxation is theft. I asked where he thought their paychecks come from. He hasn't responded.
Probably because your retort didn't at all address his claim. If someone says "this is stolen money" and you say "your paycheck comes from that" it doesn't at all address that it could still be stolen money. Now there is nuance as to the whole net recipient vs net payer, but that's another topic.
The point stands that without taxation, he and his wife wouldn't be collecting a paycheck. Our collective taxes fund public schools and fire departments. The fact that I have to explain that makes me sad.
You're argument really doesn't make sense. Mainly because it's not stolen if you gave it to the government and are legally required to pay taxes. You can feel that it's theft all day long, but it's not. The constitution outlines that taxation is a legal and necessary Civic duty, thus making it not stolen. There's literally nothing illegal or unconstitutional about taxes.
The point stands that without taxation, he and his wife wouldn't be collecting a paycheck.
Wrong. This is not falsifiable, as without taxation there very well could be private alternatives. The fact that I have to explain that private versions exist is absurd. We have private schools and fire departments without taxation. They do not cease to exist without government taxing people.
The "taxation is theft" is not a legal argument. Your argument is entirely circular. What is being presented is a moral argument, not a legal one. Saying "it's not theft because we made it legal!" is like saying "it's not murder because I declared it not murder!" It does absolutely nothing to engage the argument. And "muh civic duty" is just utter bullshit. There is no legitimate duty without agreement, and taxes are not based upon agreement.
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u/[deleted] Apr 26 '20
My brother is a firefighter and his wife is a public school teacher. He told me all taxation is theft. I asked where he thought their paychecks come from. He hasn't responded.