Buzzflash have produced a great long list of why people are not paying too much tax to the state. Not surprisingly whilst I agree with many of the points they raise, it is because I think their list actually proves quite the opposite.
– Don’t drive on paved streets or highways.
Highways, like all property, should be private property… and so I would rather pay tolls that taxes.
– Don’t call 911.
My neighbourhood is so dissatisfied with the Police Service we are hiring a local security to patrol the area, funded by subscription. Better yet, acquire a gun.
– Don’t flush your toilet.
Why not? Water utilities are private, not state operations in many parts of the world. The state is not the only way.
– Don’t bring your garbage to the curb.
I don’t have to, the private garbage collectors we use come to our back door and collect it.
– Don’t fly in an airplane that uses air-traffic controllers.
Privatise, privatise, privatise!
– Don’t use the court system.
Correct… use arbitrators and law merchants if the state lets you.
– Don’t call the police when you get robbed.
Quite so, carry a gun and shoot the fucker dead yourself.
– Don’t use the US Post Office. Send all your letters via FedEx or UPS.
Yes, that is a splendid idea.
– Don’t ask for a farm subsidy for not growing crops.
Quite so… just say no to corporate welfare.
– Don’t ask for a taxpayer subsidy to do business in a city or state.
Quite so… just say no to corporate welfare.
– Don’t buy a sports franchise and ask the taxpayers to build your stadium.
Quite so… just say no to corporate welfare.
– Don’t send your children to public schools.
Quite so… the state has no business ‘educating’ children in the first place and certainly not at my expense.
– Don’t attend a state university.
Quite so… see above, though given that the state may have stolen your money to fund the place anyway regardless of your wishes, don’t feel too bad if you do.
– Don’t expect a social security payment.
Quite so, start building up a private pension!
– Don’t let Medicare pay your bills if you are over 65 or disabled.
Quite so… buy insurance and set money aside for eventualities and old age… and if you don’t, don’t expect me to fund your irresponsible behaviour or bad luck.
– Don’t look for a government contract to bolster your defense industry business.
Hmmm… as a minarchist I see this as one of the few legitimate roles of the state, but certainly quite a lot of defense roles could be taken up by Protection Agencies and Private Military Organisations like Sandline. The reality is the weapons have to come from somewhere.
– Don’t look for a government.
Okay, if you insist.
– Don’t look for a lucrative government consultant contract.
Okay.
– Don’t run for political office where your salary is paid for by the taxpayers.
Damn straight!
– Don’t accept government research findings that subsidize research for your industry.
Quite so… just say no to corporate welfare.
– Don’t be an airlines and expect the government to bail you out.
Quite so… just say no to corporate welfare.
– Don’t be a car company and expect the government to bail you out.
Quite so… just say no to corporate welfare.
– Don’t be a steel company and expect the government to bail you out.
Quite so… just say no to corporate welfare.
– Don’t be a company that pollutes and expect the taxpayer to bail you out.
Quite so… just say no to corporate welfare.
– Don’t climb to the top of the Washington Monument, which is maintained at taxpayer expense.
Yes, it should be private property.
– Don’t make use of police services.
You are repeating yourself guys… see earlier about dialling ‘911’
– Don’t be rescued by fire department paramedic team.
In many places these guys are private organisations and not an arm of the state. The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) for example shows how a national emergency service can be run independently of both the states control and its funding.
– Don’t call the fire department.
See previous.
– Don’t expect federal assistance if a natural disaster destroys your home or business.
Quite so… buy insurance for Christ’s sake and if you insist on living on a flood plain, consider moving somewhere more sensible!
– Don’t expect the military to defend your country.
Again, it is one of the very few areas for the state to actually have a function… but Protection Agencies and Private Military Organisations can do much of the work.
– Don’t visit national parks or hike in national forests.
Privatise them.
– Don’t eat USDA inspected meat, cheese, eggs or produce.
Better yet, abolish the USDA.
– Don’t take any medications tested and approved by the FDA.
Better yet, abolish the FDA.
– Don’t drink, bath or otherwise use the water from municipal water systems.
Privatise it, if it is not already so, which in many places is indeed the case.
– Don’t look at or relay a weather report.
There are just as likely to be privately provided services.
– Don’t look at a NASA generated picture.
Better still, abolish NASA.
– Don’t expect a unit of measure like a gallon of gas to be a full gallon.
Why not? There are many non-state centred ways to achieve that.
– Don’t expect an elevator to work correctly or not fall.
Ludicrous. I expect the owner of the elevator to not want to get sued and that can be achieved without idiotic ‘health and safety’ regulations.
– Don’t expect a red light to work.
See above.
– Don’t be the Minority Senate Leader Named Trent Lott and expect American taxpayers to subsidize the building of private industry cruiseliner ships in your home state.
Better yet abolish the Senate…or failing that, abolish Trent Lott.
– Don’t accept government money to help develop a product which you then personally patent or copyright and sell for your own profit.
Quite so… just say no to corporate welfare and reject all stolen ‘government’ money.
– Don’t use the services of a doctor who is licensed through the state.
Better yet, abolish state regulation and leave it to private competitive rating agencies and insurance companies.
– Don’t expect research into medical problems such as cancer, heart disease, diabetes, aging, prostrate, menopause, etc.
You must be joking! The main driver for that R&D is the profit motive!
– Don’t use the public library.
Yes, abolish them.
– Don’t go to a state university affiliated hospital.
Yes, abolish them.
– Don’t go to a state university.
Yes, abolish them.
– Don’t watch state college sports.
I don’t.
– Don’t apply for government grants.
Yes, abolish all grants, which are just redistributed stolen property.
– Don’t use your state’s Convention Centers.
Yes, burn them down and build something useful rather than have places for mass political rallies.
– Don’t go to a state, city or municipal-run airport.
Yes, privatise them.
– Don’t ask for rural electrification.
I didn’t!
– Don’t ask for FEC regulations that protect us from crooked financial planners.
I didn’t!
– Don’t ask to keep the airwaves free so your right-wing psycho radio talk show host can lie to you.
Huh?
– Don’t ask for a business loan from the small business administration.
Yes, abolish the SBA.
– Don’t ask to use the G.I. bill to go to college.
Quite so.
– Don’t allow Al Gore to sponsor legislation to turn a military computer network (DARPANet/ARPANet) into the public-accessed ‘Internet’.
Er… it was rather more complex than that.
– Don’t drive a car that benefits from government safety regulations.
‘Benefit’ my arse. I am not given the option unfortunately or I would indeed rip out much of the mandated crap in cars these days.
– Don’t use electricity generated by TVA or some government-owned and maintained dam or facility.
Quite so, privatise them and return the stolen land they are built on.
– Don’t use currency printed by the US Treasury.
Quite so, lets return to non-national private currencies.
– Don’t use a bank or credit union that insures your deposits through the FDIC.
Yes, abolish the FDIC and end all the moral hazard it leads to.
– Don’t buy or build a house that requires the efforts of county deed offices or needs building permits and inspections.
Abolish the immoral permits that make a nonsense of the whole notion of several property.
– Don’t get married, have children or die and expect the government to keep track of all the certificates.
I do not want the state to know anything about my families private affairs!
– Don’t expect the government to keep an eye on cemeteries, crematories and funeral homes so you won’t get dug up and thrown in a swamp. And ask George Bush why he lied about his involvement with a company that did just that.
I don’t expect the state to do much of anything really!
– Don’t run for an elected office, because the local, state and federal election commissions could be involved.
I agree. The whole democratic system is little more than proxy mugging.
– Don’t go to a beach kept clean by the state.
They usually don’t.
– Don’t use public transportation.
I agree… privatise it.
– Don’t visit public museums.
Privatise them.
– Don’t go hunting, fishing, or camping on government property.
There should not even be ‘government property’.
– Don’t cross a bridge.
Private toll bridges are splendid things!
– Don’t use truckstops or public restrooms.
Why not? Most are privately owned!
And finally . . .
– Don’t complain to us about how much you pay in taxes because we think taxes can be a good thing and WE DON’T WANT TO HEAR YOUR WHINING ANYMORE!
As you can see, I reject the entire premise these ‘self evident’ remarks are based on. Government can take its ‘essential state services’ and… well, use your imagination. There are other ways to do things. As the brilliant French pamphleteer Frédéric Bastiat said:
Socialism, like the ancient ideas from which it springs, confuses the distinction between government and society. As a result of this, every time we object to a thing being done by government, the socialists conclude that we object to its being done at all
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