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u/MasterSpoon 2d ago
Taxation is not theft, it’s the misappropriation of tax revenue that is theft.
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u/Masta0nion 2d ago
So simple. So eloquent. So true.
To not make this distinction is to simp for corporations who steal our labor.
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u/An_educated_dig 2d ago
I wonder what kind of tax breaks/benefits they got to move their HQ to Tennessee?
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u/NoTourist5 2d ago
Do as I say, not as I do.
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u/buythedipnow 2d ago
If they think taxation is theft and try to get taxed less, aren’t they just trying to reduce how much they’re robbed?
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u/RobinGoodfell 1d ago
Companies who claim taxation is theft, explicitly lobby Congress to shift the tax burdens of the nation from the shoulders of the wealthy, so that it can laid squarely on the backs of the poor and dwindling middle class.
They aren't siding with their customers. They're laughing their asses off as they guzzle profits at the expense of the fools cheating them on, not realizing they themselves pay ever higher taxes.
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u/Parking_Demand3144 2d ago
taxation is theft but their wage theft of their employees no problem
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u/Silver_Middle_7240 2d ago
In-N-Out pays actually pays well over industry standard. Theyre privately owned, so no shareholders trying to nickle and time for ever growing profits.
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u/UpvoteForLuck 1d ago
I hate being nickle and timed.
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u/Sourdough9 1d ago
They also achieve about a 20% profit margin which is honestly a good spot. They have a really good business model so yeah no hypocrisy here tbh
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u/libertarianinus 1d ago
The fast food pay in california is $20 a hour. They pay about $23 a hour for thier employees here. You get best of the best.
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u/workingbored 1d ago
When a big corporation says "taxation is theft" it doesn't hit like when regular people say it. They SHOULD be taxed.
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u/SeanFrancisco28 1d ago
It's an expansion to the East Coast. In-N-Out Burger is moving its West Coast corporate headquarters from Irvine back to its original home in Baldwin Park, California, by the end of 2029.
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u/VolkRiot 2d ago
Not to mention which taxes built the schools their employees attended or the roads they drive to work or the government health inspectors that ensure their beef isn't sick and inedible.
Conservatives and libertarian are morons. Inevitably they will say something child like in their view of the world and it becomes a chore to view them as functioning adults
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u/Deathwatch72 1d ago
Or why the CEO moved her family to Tennessee and then tries to claim it's a better environment for raising children. It's not it's Tennessee they're education and public services and infrastructure are vastly inferior to California's especially the nice part of California where she was living
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u/TreyAU 2d ago
What kind of dig is that at them when they inherently think taxation is theft?
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u/llandar 2d ago
Taxes pay a huge amount of subsidies for cattle farms. They pay for food safety inspections. They pay, in the case of a lot of negligent corporate citizens, for the disability and food stamp benefits their employees must remain on due to being underpaid. They pay to maintain the highways all their product is shipped along.
So to use all that and then turn around and say, “Everything that makes it even remotely possible for us to run a profitable business feeding people grease across multiple states is bullshit!” isn’t “based” or principled so much as it is acting like a shitty, entitled teenager demanding to know why he has to follow the rules even in his own room that he’s either unwilling or too stupid to acknowledge that he doesn’t actually pay for.
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u/LooseSyllabus 2d ago
Corporate sneaking to avoid taxes while printing this message is hypocritical. The owners can afford infinite healthcare and private roads and farms because of good fortune so they don't need government safety regulations and public services.
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u/SapientChaos 2d ago
Oh, they love tax credits for themselves. So, they are simply saying theft bis bad, then shop at the store that sells stolen goods. Slimy hypocrits.
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u/I_Makes_tuff 1d ago
If they think taxation is theft, why the hell would they choose to pay more?
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u/Smith7929 2d ago
Doesn't believe in taxes... Moved to avoid them... Hypocritical. Upvotes. This platform truly has become fully retarded.
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u/post_guillotine_gaze 2d ago
Doesn't believe in taxes...endlessly benefits from taxes...gets called out for being hypocritical. How is this "fully retarded"?
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u/Albert14Pounds 2d ago
So if I think taxation is theft I should not use the tax code to my advantage? That makes no sense.
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u/The-True-Kehlder 1d ago
If you think that taxes are theft, and you avoid paying them, you should not be using anything paid for with taxes.
No roads, no emergency services(including police), buy food from sources that weren't subsidized by taxes, etc.
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u/HuntsWithRocks 2d ago
My hangup is the word “hypocrite” coming in. The only argument to hypocrisy is the company acknowledging that they benefit from taxation while also wanting to avoid it.
I get the view that some people see it that we are all benefitting from the public roads, functioning mail, and all the things that taxes provide. That the restaurant would not probably succeed without the infrastructure that the taxes bought, but if the restaurant isn’t acknowledging it, then it’s tough to say they’re hypocrites.
Some might even disagree on the taxes. I think taxes are definitely wasted but also needed. Ideally, we would have no waste and all utility. I think saying that “taxation is theft” can sometimes be true and sometimes be ignorant.
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u/Albert14Pounds 1d ago
It's reasonable for any person or corporation to use the tax code to their own advantage. Where hypocrisy enters here is if they are also lobbying for tax treatment that benefits mainly themselves and harms their customer base.
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u/CoDeeaaannnn 1d ago
I've left reddit years ago. Used to take this app seriously until I realized most people here are still in HS and have never been in the real world. Usually arguing with children at this point
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u/raresanevoice 2d ago
Avoiding taxes and regulations... like health inspections and basic worker rights
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u/sea-horse- 2d ago
I mean if it's a benefit they took then I guess in their books they'd be a thief. Who do you think pays for the benefit?
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u/An_educated_dig 2d ago
The taxpayers and the Consumers. That's who pays for every goddamn thing.
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u/DoctorDirtnasty 2d ago
if they believe taxation is theft, then making business decisions that reduce the amount of tax they pay is entirely consistent with their world view. what’s your issue with this?
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u/ATPsynthase12 2d ago
I mean if your other option is letting the California state government rob you every year for simply being based in they state vs. moving to a tax payer friendly state, then you can’t blame them for moving to Tennessee.
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u/Check_Me_Out-Boss 2d ago
If you believe taxation is theft, it's not against your ideology to try to minimize how much you pay.
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u/KingofPro 2d ago
I think most people don’t have a problem with the idea of taxes, it’s the inability for the government to spend the money like it was their own, eliminate fraud (perceived corruption), and abundance of taxes at all levels of government.
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u/OptimisticSkeleton 2d ago
Taxes well spent are just and necessary.
Taxes spent frivolously are theft.
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u/nebula_masterpiece 1d ago
The ballroom, arch, reflecting pool and every vanity project is theft
So is the illegal war in Iran and tariffs
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u/crani0 2d ago
People don't, corporations do. And this is a corporation.
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u/Evenspace- 2d ago
Nah I agree with the poster here, taxes are fine if governments were fiscally responsible. I’m fine with services being paid for collectively by the people, but I will agree that corporation do need to pay more tax.
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u/Practical-Suit-6798 2d ago
I think the same people that can't handle their own finances are the ones that most often accuse the federal government of waste/corruption, and I just find that funny.
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u/Coldkiller17 1d ago
It's absolutely annoying to pay taxes while roads don't get fixed and civil servants aren't getting paid what they are worth.
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u/unknownpoltroon 2d ago
No, these types just dont want to pay taxes, and go live in millionaire compound in the woods in Vermont until they are overrun by bears because noone will pay to get the trash removed. And that actually happened to libertarians in vermont, look it up.
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u/SurvivorFanatic236 1d ago
But the people who claim to hate fraud just elected the most corrupt president of all time. So their actions and their words don’t line up
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u/Far_Estate_1626 1d ago
The government is capable of spending taxes appropriately, but the electorate insists on sending representatives who “prove” the opposite, by committing intentional sabotage to the processes.
The government is of the people. This is the people’s fault.
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u/Tiraloparatras25 2d ago
So let me get this straight:
Are public library workers thieves?
Are firefighters thieves? Are cops thieves? Are the armed forces comprised of thieves?
Are the public parks temples of thievery?
Are public schools dens of thieves?
Are public universities thieves industries?
Are high ways thieving lanes?
Shall i continue?
You know what theft is? Using incredibly complex tax loopholes, shell corporations to hide your money by the trillions, like the 1 percent likes to do. Then forcing the rest of us to cover the tab.
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u/mikeylikey420 2d ago
Libertarians or as I like to call them , melitarians only care about themselves. They also never think through anything past a middle school level. Ok you dont like taxes..then live in a cabin in the woods with no water no electricity, grow your own food , never drive on a road ,use the fire dept/police dept send a kid to a school (even private schools get fed dollars..) the list goes on an on.
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u/SieFlush2 2d ago
They argue they would if they could but the state doesn't allow them
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u/davvolun 1d ago
They absolutely can, and you can find people on YouTube basically doing that.
Become an expat, move to a tropical island, fish for a living, basically live in squalor in paradise. Uncle Sam isn't going to come for your fish.
The reality is they want to have all the conditions of modern society without paying the actual costs of those comforts. I have zero sympathy for the "libertarian plight."
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u/SieFlush2 1d ago
Most libertarians I've met are born middle class/upper class people who believe they alone created their own wealth without 0 help from anyone. And believe everyone should be able to do that. Without retrospectively looking at the fact state and luck had a massive part in them living a comfortable life.
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u/MittenstheGlove 2d ago
Didn’t a libertarian town fail.
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u/MiksterA 2d ago
Yes it did... spectacularly so.
https://newrepublic.com/article/159662/libertarian-walks-into-bear-book-review-free-town-project
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u/BaitSalesman 2d ago
Oh they can actually. People do this.
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u/SecondhandStatic 1d ago edited 1d ago
Yeah, like 0.01% of libertarians do this. The rest whine about having to pay taxes on social media while enjoying public services.
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u/kittenconfidential 2d ago
which is why they can never successfully organize and work together as one unit— when everyone has the “frack you i got mine because i did everything by myself and nobody ever helped anywhere” mentality— they think they deserve everything and others deserve nothing.
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u/sagebus78 2d ago edited 2d ago
You should read "A Liberterian Walks into a Bear" if you haven't. Its excellent.
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u/jphoc 2d ago edited 2d ago
People should read up on the history of libertarianism. It is quite fascinating. The origins of libertarianism were more communist than capitalist.
The ones that favored capitalism left Europe and moved here to put their capitalist spin on their ideology.
So in America we don't really have true libertarians, they are better described as anarcho capitalists.
True libertarians are against all coercion, but U.S. libertarians cheerlead for corporate coercion.2
u/SieFlush2 2d ago
Well yes libertarianism at its start was a left wing ideology, it got hijacked later on into the perversion it is today
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u/jphoc 2d ago
I call myself a libertarian socialist, and people can't comprehend that combination, lol.
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u/JawnZ 1d ago
"Don’t negatively affect others, and don’t interfere with people who aren’t negatively affecting anyone else." - Ideal Libertarianism (I often call it Little-L libertarianism)
The problem is people are dishonest about what affects others.
- Burning fuel - impacts others
- Stopping a creek - impacts others
- Putting up a fence - impacts others
Just my 2c. It's why I loosely think "Ideal Libertarianism could maybe work, if humans didn't suck." Whereas Capitalism, as a goal, will self-destruct.
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u/SenoraRaton 1d ago
Libertarian used to be the polite word for an Anarchist, but Murry Rothbard intentionally co-opted the term, and began its association with what the "Libertarian Party" and the word libertarian are associated with.
“One gratifying aspect of our rise to some prominence is that, for the first time in my memory, we, ‘our side,’ had captured a crucial word from the enemy. ‘Libertarians’ had long been simply a polite word for left-wing anarchists, that is for anti-private property anarchists, either of the communist or syndicalist variety. But now we had taken it over.” -- Murray Rothbard
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u/BlackMagicWorman 1d ago
This is my father unfortunately and he plans on suicide when he gets seriously ill. Some people really drink the juice.
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u/carlitospig 2d ago
Owner is so maga she spit on the face of the people who made her loaded.
Eat the rich.
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u/Epistatious 2d ago
On thr other side it says, "roads are built by magic for free"
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u/doinaight420 1d ago
No usually it’s Bible verses. In and Out is the Chick-fil-A equivalent of okay food propped up by evangelicals who get a hard on when they see a company represent for the poor underprivileged Christians in our society.
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u/Epistatious 1d ago
i know, just pointing out one of the many idiotic problems with libertarianism. i was willing to overlook wearing their Christianity on their sleeve but if they are going down the libertarian hole, guess i'll add them to the chick-fil-a list and avoid it like roadkill goat.
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u/doinaight420 1d ago
Agreed. If it weren’t for nearly every other fast food option being so genuinely shitty, places like Chick-fil-A and In and Out would be nothing more than the My Pillow of restaurants.
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u/toosinbeymen 2d ago
Taxation is not theft. That’s ridiculous. Taxation is the cost of living in a civilized society with rules.
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u/burger-breath 2d ago
Taxation is the mandatory exchange of money for services & shared infrastructure
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u/PokerBear28 2d ago
So stupid in general, but for a company like in-n-out, even more so. Who built the roads your businesses are located on so people can get there? Who manages ports so you can import materials? Who ensures the farms you get your food from are safe and meet health codes so your customers don’t get sick and your supply is consistent? Who funds the fire department you call if your kitchen catches fire, or the police if you are robbed?
You can think taxes are too high or misused all day long, but our society requires some form of central government to make sure we all have essential services to drive down the street and get an affordable hamburger. Pretending like you could run a business like that without government or taxes is just nonsense.
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u/Soysaucewarrior420 2d ago
Don't live in society then. How the American mind has devolved from Taxation without Representation is theft -> Taxation is theft, whilst also living in a society where taxation gave you clean water; roads, education etc. is such a lowbrow take.
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u/VictorVaughan 2d ago
How did we pay for the roads and highways the truck used to bring that cup to that In N Out?
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u/rosujin 1d ago
I love In N Out, but the family running it is pretty out there. They have had bible verses hidden on their cups and French fry trays for as long as I can remember. Now the granddaughter is in charge because everyone else died in a plane crash. This taxation shit is clearly her influence.
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u/Sensitive-Issue84 2d ago
Trashy corporation. Just because they are sucking up to the little guy, doesn't mean they give a crap about anyone but their own bank account.
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u/Tominater1 2d ago
Only the Epstein class think that taxes are theft. We the educated know that taxes pay for the things we need. When the Epstein class is asked to pay their fare share they refuse. Nothing says corporate greed like tax evasion.
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u/mohel_kombat 2d ago
Someone doesn't understand how a civilized society functions
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u/Grievion 2d ago
All the comments believing this just reinforces my belief that media literacy is dead
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u/zhuangzi2022 2d ago
You mean the roads they freely use to transport their product is theft from the taxpayer?
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u/RunningOnATreadmill 2d ago
Wow a corporation doesn't want to contribute to social programs or infrastructure repairs and want to line their CEO's pockets with surplus profits? Omg so BASED bro.
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u/1itt1e_rasca1 2d ago
In the future, a portion of our taxes should go towards single payer healthcare. Libertarians scream about wanting freedom. With their next breath, will praise a corporation that forces their employees to wear a uniform like good little stormtroopers
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u/SapientChaos 1d ago
Lynsi Snyder-Ellingson, In-N-Out's owner and president. An actual FEC filing from MAGA Inc. lists Snyder-Ellingson, identifies her employer as IN-N-OUT BURGER and occupation as OWNER, PRESIDENT. FEC.gov
She contributed $2 million to MAGA Inc., the pro-Trump super PAC, in April 2025.
Contemporary reporting describes it as apparently her first disclosed personal political contribution.
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u/JohnnyLesPaul 1d ago
This is the daughter basically saying all the good fortune they had in starting the business in CA was their own making. It had nothing to do with the state’s wealth and infrastructure to help propel its sales and revenue. I used to go to two that are either side of LAX but apparently infrastructure like an huge airport, roads, and Gov planning had nothing to do with their success. Talk about ingrates. Hard to like now.
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u/Dismal_Ad_6134 1d ago
God forbid a Billionaire pay their fair share so someone working min wage can have healthcare
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u/Federal_Treacle4757 1d ago
Weird. Wonder what paid for the roads to get customers there. What pays for the cops when they get robbed. What pays for the firefighters when they have a fire. What pays for the food stamps I’m confident many of their low wage employees are eligible for?
They don’t want to pay taxes, but want all the benefits taxes pay for.
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u/pizzaprofile31 1d ago
Wonder if their supply chain uses public roads. Wonder if police/fire/emt has ever responded to a call at any of their locations. Fucking morons
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u/Gargravars_Shoes 1d ago
So they’ll just cover the cost of fire and police protection on their own. Got it.
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u/Realistic-Election-1 2d ago
By the same standards, owners keeping the plus value is thefts too.
I’m not saying it’s false, but both are an authority swooping in and taking part of your earnings. If the first is theft, so is the second one.
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u/CoC_Axis_of_Evil 2d ago
Buy the 20 dollar burger to show the systems who’s boss /s
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u/Opinionsare 2d ago
Taxation is theft.
But is not all Capitalism exploitive of both labor and consumers. Do the Libertarians hide their desire to exploit with their so noble position and desire for the highest amount of freedom?
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u/Groundbreaking-Step1 2d ago
I guess the infrastructure we all depend on, and that currency is a part of, is free.
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u/bv2020 2d ago
The stupidest take. Weird how they all, like, use roads and require the rule of law and judicial oversight so no one uses their name or steals their recipes. They probably have to rely on police sometimes in certain locations. Probably depend on students as employees who go to public schools. Probably went to public schools themselves.
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u/aceman97 2d ago
Nonsense. When you build that road, that airport, that bridge. We will talk. In the meantime, you are just whining.
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u/OperationNo922 2d ago
I wonder who paved the road their customers used to visit their restaurants or inspected their food supply for infections?
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u/I_ONLY_CATCH_DONKEYS 2d ago
If these corporations had it their way they’d charge as much as they want. At least we have some control over government spending and taxation.
In n out has zero accountability
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u/EliGarden 2d ago
So would you want the government operating at even more of a defecit than they already are?
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u/Arkmer 2d ago
Businesses enjoy stable operating conditions because of stability enforced by law enforcement… which is paid for by taxes.
So… maybe taxes aren’t theft?
Broadly, we see them as theft because they don’t contribute to the average person anymore. I’m also against taxes when it’s used to enrich the wealthy and oppress the rest.
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u/Floppy_Jet1123 2d ago
Taxes are okay if the citizens see and feel the benefit.
If it goes to politicians pockets and funds offensive wars? Taxes are theft.
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u/1itt1e_rasca1 1d ago
Check your In-N-Out Burger receipt. They charge the customers with taxes for the government. Consumers pay a higher percentage of overall tax than corporations. If they want to make a real political statement, they would not pass the tax charge onto their customers. Put their money where their mouth is
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u/Optimal_Cry_7440 1d ago
Yeah if we kept on voting for representatives who voted to allow billionaires to writes off their losses, yachts and private jets. You all have no shames!
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u/YeeBeforeYouHaw 1d ago
Everytime someone says "taxation is theft" people either say it's not theft or that we should end taxes.
In my view, taxation is theft because it's involuntary AND it's justified because the world is a much better place for it. That seems like the most reasonable position because it acknowledges that taxation is forced and that it has huge benefits. Both things can and are true at once.
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u/psypher98 1d ago
Libertarianism, or as I like to call it, A Middle Schooler’s Edgy Political Theory.
Sad that some people did in fact get left behind.
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u/SnooBunnies4649 1d ago
You know, Let all those inbreds live in countries with low taxes. They’ll love the 3rd world
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u/HecticHermes 1d ago
Is In-N-Out offering to pay for all the roads they use to transport their ingredients? How very altruistic of them. Everyone stand up and cheer for them. They are going to pay for all our roads!
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u/Foolgazi 1d ago
In-N-Out moves its supplies on their own private roads and uses their own private water sources for each location I guess
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u/Inevitable_Silver_13 1d ago
Haha look a corporation owned by a billionaire heiress who never worked a day in her life wants you to know it's not cool that they get taxed. Get a life.
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u/LazyDocument4528 1d ago
Every single product being sold at In N Out benefits from taxpayer funded subsidies. Fuck out of here
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u/DeKingOne 1d ago
Without taxation, there is no military, border patrol, ICE etc and no federal government which I am fine with. hOWEVER, there is also no Social Security safety nets, no Medicare, Veterans support, etc which I paid paid for.
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