Annoyance comments on The Trouble With "Good" - Less Wrong

83 Post author: Yvain 17 April 2009 02:07AM

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Tags: ethics utilitarianism

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Comment author: CronoDAS 17 April 2009 07:30:45AM 2 points [-]

Ask an anarchist. Taxation of X% means you're forced to work for X% of the year without getting paid. Therefore, since slavery is "being forced to work without pay" taxation is slavery. Since slavery is bad, taxation is bad. Therefore government is bad and statists are no better than slavemasters.4

Nitpick: Under most current systems of taxation, you choose how much to work, and then lose a certain percentage of your income to taxes. A slave does not have the power to choose how much (or whether) to work. This is generally considered a relevant difference between taxation and slavery.

Comment author: Annoyance 17 April 2009 05:04:04PM 3 points [-]

See the draft. See also the varied attempts to mandate 'community service' or 'national service' for high school students.

One who is not a slave is not necessarily a free man.

Comment author: CronoDAS 17 April 2009 07:49:36PM 7 points [-]

In general, "because that person is a minor" is one of the few remaining justifications for denying someone civil rights that people still consider valid. Try comparing the status of a 15-year-old in the United States today with that of a black man or white woman in the in the United States of 1790 and see if you come up with any interesting similarities.

Comment author: conchis 17 April 2009 05:16:15PM *  12 points [-]

One who is not a slave is not necessarily a free man.

Indeed. One may be a woman. Or a turtle.

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