Thursday, November 18, 2004

Walter Williams

on taxes (lifted from RightWingNews):
"If I see a person in need of food, what if I walk up to another person and, through threats, intimidation and coercion, take his money and give it to the needy person? I believe and hope that most Americans would see such an act as theft. Would the conclusion differ if we collectively agreed to take one person's money to feed the needy person? It'd still be theft. Immoral acts such as theft, rape and murder don't become moral when done collectively through a majority decision."
Thoughts, anyone? I agree with this statement, but taxation is a necessary evil to maintain a national defense and provide for the public safety. Williams addresses this argument by exchanging "moral" with "constitutional". I think I like that argument better anyway.

1 comment:

Engicon said...

Don't you understand? The sheeple are too dumb to spend their own money. They need Uncle Sam to take their money under threat of jail time and further money taking. I mean, it's not like I'm smart enough to spend my own money in a way that is optimal for me. No, far better for the government to take my money, use at least 25% of it for a purpose that wouldn't be necessary if I kept the money (paying for the bureaucracy which does the stealing and spending) then spend most of what's left on things which don't benefit me. Even if said bureaucracy was spending all the leftover money on things that were good for me, they would have to be 125% efficient compared to me. We all know how efficient bureaucracies are...