Yeah, I agree, extortion isn’t right. I think “force” is the term that captures the entire moral problem sufficiently. All exercise of government power is force, and should thus be used only when absolutely necessary.
If you can control access to the swimming pool, there is a way of knowing that people who don’t contribute won’t use it. The whole point was that there are some services where you cannot stop people from enjoying the benefits. Cleaner air for instance. Those are the things that are non-excludable. For those, it makes sense to tax. But since taxation is similar to extortion, those things should be clearly defined and as few as possible.
And I absolutely agree that taxation isn’t extortion. It is like it in many aspects though. Not because it’s my opinion, but because it undeniably involves the use of or the threat of force to make people pay for something which they may or may not see benefit from. Once again, this is justified because taxation isn’t extortion, and taxation is required for many services that benefit everyone through externalities. But it also calls for checks beyond simply voting.
You mean Galt invests in real estate? (“…oicks up a lot…”) 
Perhaps you should acquaint yourself with the Whisky Rebellion, in which sitting President George Washington led federal troops to enforce the whisky tax. You are not entitled to keep every damn dollar you earn and the government can take the tax at the point of a gun, and it says so, right in the Constitution.
However, an income tax required an amendment. Unfortunately, the way the amendment is written the government can legally demand 110% and throw you in jail for inability to pay. The only check on that is what I’ve said before: politicians hate paying taxes as much as the rest of us.
Would you typically emphasize to someone in a low wage job who is being mistreated by his employer, if he complains about this, that he’s free to get a job elsewhere?
Extortion is typically a lawless act, and taxes are typically lawful. That’s an important distinction.
If some mobsters started setting up rules about their extortion, and actually stuck to them, I’d be tempted to start calling it a tax instead. If they can get away with such a thing, they seem to be in a fairly sovereign position.
If the government stopped following rules concerning taxation, and instead just allowed individuals to decide by fiat how much to take from whom, I’d be tempted to stop calling it a tax.
I guess, though I’d call it “tribute” if the situation was thuggish enough.
Yes, which is why I’m living in one. The alternatives are all worse, just like with taxes. The tyranny of the majority beats the state of nature eight ways to Sunday.
Mine doesn’t. They may be a bit overzealous in their demands for proof that you’ve actually left permanently and isn’t on an extended vacation, but other than that the costs and restrictions for leaving are those imposed by whatever country you want to travel to.
Excuse me? “The stupid south”? You realize you’re talking about 114 million people, right?
No, actually, that’s not what I’m saying at all, and as I am not employed by government I have practically no say, except in the most abstract and remote way, over how much of your income goes to taxes.
What I AM saying is that there are degrees of suffering. I don’t believe you are suffering particularly by having to pay taxes. I’m certainly not.
It’s a pretty huge chunk of your income. If you’re not hurting, it’s becuase you don’t know how much is being taken from you.
Like, I think, most people, for me it’s a chunk that I never expected to get nor planned for, so the amount is meaningless.
You know, I’ve never emigrated from one country to another but I didn’t think you needed the first country’s permission to leave. You’re presumed to have that right as long as another country will have you. It seems to me that’s not similar at all. Not that a bullet in the brain/broken leg/having your stuff stolen was much like a visa form in the first place.
I have, and I didn’t. Ironically, since I retain citizenship in the original country (the US) I still have to file a tax return there. Ain’t it a bitch?
I agree. So is the phrase “all taxes are extortion”.
Of course private property exists in a state of nature. Are you suggesting that private courts wouldn’t recognize private property rights? Why does the state need monopoly over recognition of property rights? Because of its army?
I find it amusing that the same types of characters who are afraid of increasing “states’ rights” because they imagine it would be impossible to escape local tyranny, suggest I am somehow able to escape global tyranny. Huge inconsistency from that camp.
Are taxes a freely agreed upon contract? I had no idea i could enter into contract simply by 51% of voters (not even 51% of all adult individuals) saying i agreed to a contract.
A clue that thieves have gained control over most of the inhabitable world? I don’t dispute that.
Slavery started because of the concept of self ownership? Is that a typo?
You just contradicted yourself in two sentences. If it happens today how has the government stopped it? In fact the government enables it in many situations. To take an example from history, it was the government who refused to acknowledge the slaves’ right to self ownership.
I pay the government to defend me now. Why can’t i pay a private firm to protect me in the absence of government?
So folks who don’t pay for those services are stealing from us? Did you vote for Romney?
Defense of property is defense of self.
Society has accepted taxation as legitimate. This makes our society an immoral one. Taxation should be recognized as codified extortion by society and ended.
Does there need to be a monopoly on setting debate parameters as well?
Ever heard of armored cars?
Obviously this is a matter for the (private) courts, but I don’t think a court who hanged thieves would be accepted by society.
THere’s no reason you couldn’t take me to court for the stench just like you would if I was polluting your summer property.
As far back as possible. If no original owner can be found, it is free to be taken. This would be handled by courts.
Except that contracts are freely entered without coercion, right?
Is your country US? If so, it does.