Re: Simple reason why I do not think taxation = theft
I think this might be a good example of an area where language muddys the debate a bit.
A somewhat analogous situation occurs with the term murder. When people say "capital punishment is murder" or "abortion is murder," they, intentionally or unintentionally, used a loaded term.
For the most part, "murder is bad" isnt really a debated statement. So, if one says that capital punishment is murder, and everyone agrees that murder is bad, they have defined the terms such that it leads to the conclusion "capital punishment is bad."
The situations continue to be analogous, in that, technically speaking, capital punishement is not murder for the same reason taxation is not theft: murder and theft are illegal. However, on philosophical grounds, both share the properties of the acts that are generally considered requirements for the label.
The finaly similarity between the two, comes when we realize that what exactly we should call them is far less interesting than whether or not the act should be permitted.
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