Taxes are a form of Theft

[Hurdegaryp]

not really

for a very very long time income taxes were non-existent or close to non-existent, and we had private property

we also didn't have paved roads, universal education, a universal currency, common weights and measures, or many of the rights we enjoy.

The very concept of a wage was not all that common in the early US, IF you worked for money at all you were your own boss, or worked directly for someone else for goods as often as currency, with so few people making an income, an income tax was useless so instead they taxed trade and commodities, which turns out to cause a lot of economic damage.

then of course you had the massive wealth created by slaves (which was a major source of money due to various taxes on what they produced.)

Only an idiot thinks going back to those times is a good idea.

But surely we do not have any idiots here in NationStates General, right?

Oh, wait... never mind.

[Omigodtheykilledkenny]

Hawaii voluntarily surrendered their sovreignty to the United States.

American plantation owners staged a coup and overthrew the queen; that's how Hawaii "voluntarily" surrendered its sovereignty. (Also, Hawaii is not a territory.)

Puerto Rico, if memory serves, was purchased from Spain.

I don't remember the stories on Guam, American Samoa, US Virgin Islands, etc.

Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and Guam were all ceded by Spain after the Spanish-American War. They certainly weren't bought peacefully. The same with California and Texas. You seem to have omitted the war that preceded Texas and California "voluntarily" surrendering their sovereignty.

[New Werpland]

Nope, cause without taxes private property really wouldn't be a thing.

not really

for a very very long time income taxes were non-existent or close to non-existent, and we had private property

Its entirely possible for a government that protects the people exclusively funded by money it rightfully earns through state-owned enterprises instead of having what we have now. A government that doesn't work, but waits for the people to work, and then swoops in and takes their money.

Not really.

[Haktiva]

Relevant

[Sociobiology]

Relevant

(Image)

so buy something for them to teach them about taxes?

[Haktiva]

Relevant

(Image)

so buy something for them to teach them about taxes?

you shouldn't give your kids ice cream unless they did something to deserve it at any rate

[Morr]

They are from the liberal perspective that the individual owes nothing to society and has no obligation or duty to it.

[Sociobiology]

They are from the liberal perspective that the individual owes nothing to society and has no obligation or duty to it.

which is just plain stupid.
there is no one in our societies who did not receive a huge amount of help from said society.

[Sociobiology]

so buy something for them to teach them about taxes?

you shouldn't give your kids ice cream unless they did something to deserve it at any rate

who is the kids in your analogy?