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Taxes Are Not Theft – They Are Dues
Taxes are not theft, they are dues.  They are dues to belong to the community.  They are dues to maintain the common infrastructure required for the community to thrive. Dues are not theft because if you don’t want to pay the dues to belong to the community you are totally free to leave the community.  (Or […]

Added By: ELN

January 27, 2016

Learning Subjects

Economics

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Taxes are not theft, they are dues.  They are dues to belong to the community.  They are dues to maintain the common infrastructure required for the community to thrive.

Dues are not theft because if you don’t want to pay the dues to belong to the community you are totally free to leave the community.  (Or you are free to participate in the dues setting process to change the dues.)

This can be easily described and understood by looking at a simple progression of different communities.

I belong to a Homeowners Association.  There are dues to belong to this Association.  I voluntarily choose to live in this community knowing that the dues are mandatory.  If I live in this community I pay these dues.  And if I don’t pay, the community can use the force of law to make me pay.

I live in the City of Roswell.  There are dues to live in the City of Roswell.  I voluntarily choose to live in this community knowing that the dues are mandatory.  If I live in this community I pay these dues.  And if I don’t pay the pay, the community can use the force of law to make me pay.

I live in GeorgiaI. There are dues to live in Georgia. I voluntarily choose to live in this community knowing that the dues are mandatory. If I live in this community I pay these dues. And if I don’t pay the pay, the community can use the force of law to make me pay.

Finally, I live in the US. There are dues to live in the US. I voluntarily choose to live in this community knowing that the dues are mandatory. If I live in this community I pay these dues. And if I don’t pay the pay, the community can use the force of law to make me pay.

Now, conservatives see it differently.  They think dues to live a community (taxes) are an unethical extortion via an implicit threat of violence.  They don’t see dues in the community as a way to help the community maintain the common infrastructure needed to thrive.  They see dues as simply a redistribution of wealth.

I know that many of you completely disagree with this view.  I am very interested in exploring this further to see if we can come to some mutual understand of each others perspectives.