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Government is violence

Viking11

Viking11

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New Hampshire
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Taxation is robbery. Conscription is slavery. War is mass murder.

They will engage in bureaucratic procedures. They will send you "warnings" in formal letters - but eventually - they will send armed men to your house to kidnap you and put you in a cage if you do not comply with their demands. Some will say that taxation is not robbery because the State is part owner of almost all goods and services in society - but everything the state has acquired - it has acquired through the use and threat of violence. How is the State any different than a group of armed bandits invading your village and deciding that you must give up some of your property and pay them for their protection? I am an anarchist, because I believe that violence is immoral. If you believe that violence is somehow necessary for a civilized society, then answer this: how can a society that functions through the use and threat of violence be 'civilized'?
 
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Violence is human nature.
Humans are animals. Social animals require a hierarchy... which we, as complex animals, translate into governance.

Have fun with your Utopian escapism, but don't fool yourself into believing that your philosophical ideals have any relevance irl.
 
Viking11 said:
They will engage in bureaucratic procedures. They will send you "warnings" in formal letters - but eventually - they will send armed men to your house to kidnap you and put you in a cage if you do not comply with their demands. Some will say that taxation is not robbery because the State is part owner of almost all goods and services in society - but everything the state has acquired - it has acquired through the use and threat of violence. How is the State any different than a group of armed bandits invading your village and deciding that you must give up some of your property and pay them for their protection? I am an anarchist, because I believe that violence is immoral. If you believe that violence is somehow necessary for a civilized society, then answer this: how can a society that functions through the use and threat of violence be 'civilized'?
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You make some valid points. But if you think anarchy is any less violent, you are naive in the extreme.
 
Slingshot Bob said:
All political power, flows from the barrel of a gun.
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All power flows from the barrel of a gun.

See how stupid that sounds? Actually almost none of it comes from the power of the gun. People tend to pay their taxes without the involvement of guns.
 
Viking11 said:
Taxation is robbery. Conscription is slavery. War is mass murder.

They will engage in bureaucratic procedures. They will send you "warnings" in formal letters - but eventually - they will send armed men to your house to kidnap you and put you in a cage if you do not comply with their demands. Some will say that taxation is not robbery because the State is part owner of almost all goods and services in society - but everything the state has acquired - it has acquired through the use and threat of violence. How is the State any different than a group of armed bandits invading your village and deciding that you must give up some of your property and pay them for their protection? I am an anarchist, because I believe that violence is immoral. If you believe that violence is somehow necessary for a civilized society, then answer this: how can a society that functions through the use and threat of violence be 'civilized'?
Click to expand...

Civilization is the change in human society from wandering tribes to living in cities.

It is not a change to some sort of ideal heaven.

The state has a monopoly on legal violence. Yes.

We the people, the electorate, have the capacity to sack the rulers every so often. That is called democracy. It is not perfect. It is the best method of governance yet found.
 
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