I must admit, for a long time I thought it logical that simply closing loopholes and raising taxes on the top 1% would generate enough money to adequately protect those people in our society who need it most.

But I’ve been realizing a few things:

- “the government” will never actually do this, because the people with the power to make it happen are financially incentivized to pay lip service and life else.

- “the government” obviously doesn’t allocate the existing tax dollars (not even mentioning debt) in a responsible, efficient, intelligent, or moral way. I would willingly give up a larger share of income than I do today, if I could direct how it was spent. I don’t want my labor to fund war.

- the view that “taxation is theft” is a pretty niche view (although less so in Bitcoin communities), and I find it hard to believe that a practical application of “no taxes” would actually work in a society as large and complex as ours (again, setting aside valid points on debt and money printing). That said, there’s a very convincing philosophical argument that taxation is necessarily predicated on violence. So my view on this is still being cultivated.

Anyway, you’re not the *only* person who believes in progressive values and also doesn’t believe taxes are the answer.

/rant