Is taxation theft?

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inator
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Re: Is taxation theft?

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PsYcHo wrote: Tue Mar 06, 2018 12:03 am How should land ownership and taxes be ideally dealt with? (roughly, you don't have to get too specific right now. I promise not to go into a Libertarian rant if you don't go into a Socialist one. ;) )
I actually support something in the direction of the land value tax, but I haven't figured out every detail yet. Look into Henry George. It's a libertarian framework that seems to appeal to lefties (no/low taxes on income and anything you produce yourself but high taxes on the use of natural resources). I've discussed it a bit here already:
http://philosophicalvegan.com/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=3256
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PsYcHo
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Re: Is taxation theft?

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inator wrote: Tue Mar 06, 2018 4:50 pm Look into Henry George. It's a libertarian framework that seems to appeal to lefties (no/low taxes on income and anything you produce yourself but high taxes on the use of natural resources). I've discussed it a bit here already:
http://philosophicalvegan.com/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=3256
I must admit, that seems much better than the current tax model. It really does make sense that if you wish to "own" a piece of land, you are taking something from the community that is of value. So the larger your piece of land, the more you should compensate the community for it. (Since the community can no longer use it to grow crops, for instance.) I'm a huge fan of the not being taxed for your income or production of products. And, it would require a much smaller government to calculate and collect the tax. Not going to say I'm on board a hundred percent, but you've definitely given me something to consider.

How should we utilize the taxes collected from land owners under this system?
Alcohol may have been a factor.

Taxation is theft.
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Re: Is taxation theft?

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PsYcHo wrote: Tue Mar 06, 2018 11:01 pm It really does make sense that if you wish to "own" a piece of land, you are taking something from the community that is of value. So the larger your piece of land, the more you should compensate the community for it.
I agree, and not only because it sounds more just in theory, but because the incentives are probably where they should be in order to encourage development and a more effective use of space (and other natural resources).
PsYcHo wrote: Tue Mar 06, 2018 11:01 pmI'm a huge fan of the not being taxed for your income or production of products.
I would be too in the context of other compensatory measures like a land value tax. But only if it actually works to improve society. I think people think a bit too much about how good/fair/legitimate different measures are in themselves, and too little about what goals they're supposed to achieve.
PsYcHo wrote: Tue Mar 06, 2018 11:01 pmHow should we utilize the taxes collected from land owners under this system?
These things are context-dependent. We can't implement the same policies in areas with different needs and customs.
As a general observation I'd say strong and well thought out social security is a good thing. There are reasons to believe that a basic income may be be even better (and would reduce bureaucracy), but I'd wait for the results of the social experiments they're doing in Finland and the Netherlands to see how that worked out.
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