Comment 73647

By Borrelli (registered) | Posted February 02, 2012 at 09:53:06

Freedom Seeker, I see where you're coming from, but I think you go too far off-base.

As others have pointed out, you tacitly consent to this "theft" every time you turn your tap on, use a road, or flush the toilet. It's fee for service, but applied differently.

But what I find most interesting is your thought experiment: it is only the protection of the state, funded by taxes, that allows virtually everyone to be safe of suffering through such a scenario.

Which is to say, without the state as arbiter of the use of force, I'd have a reason (profit) to kidnap you and ransom you back to your family, as happens frequently enough in societies where the central state is weak or crumbling (see Mexico).

Don't discount the benefits of the state too heavily. It's not perfect, but it serves an important function.

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