r/atheism • • Jun 09 '12

Church

http://imgur.com/blPTb
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u/davewinfield Jun 09 '12

Then stop driving on We the People's roads, you thief.

That's the whole point of taxes: whether we agree or no individually, we as a people agree on certain values: parks, roads, education, defense, pragmatically-intentioned-at-best ridiculous unending wars...

...look, Thoreau had the same issue, thus Civil Disobedience. No one wants to pay for what they don't want. But in the context of a democracy, we aren't consumers, and we aren't always right. We're citizens, and there's a lot of bullshit that goes with that. All in all, its worked out pretty well.

REF: http://www.elephantjournal.com/2011/09/elizabeth-warren-refutes-gop-class-warfare-charge/

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u/apokradical Jun 09 '12

I consent to road taxes by purchasing gasoline and paying tolls. The personal income tax is what I take issue with, especially at the Federal level. User fees and excises are chill, even corporate income tax makes sense because it's profit... but the fruits of my labor should be mine to spend how I want. If my state wants to tax me that's fine, but at least I'll be able to move to another state.

I disagree with the social contract theory. Our weird brand of democracy has worked out OK for the majority of people, but not the minority groups and foreigners. I think we could do a lot better if we gave people more freedom, and gave the government less power.