Comments by "wvu05" (@wvu05) on "Libertarian Caller: I Don't Wanna Pay My Taxes!" video.

@MrMagnaniman No, I just want people to act in accordance with what they say are principles. In my experience, a lot of the talk about "freedom" from libertarians rings hollow, because it often ignores competing claims of freedom or constantly sides with one side over the other, and it ain't working people (i.e., while I would consider Ron Paul a paleoconservative rather than a libertarian, he does use the same buzz words, and he is opposed to anti-trust laws under the Free Association Clause, but he sees no such protection in the First Amendment for workers who want to form a union), or people who want to reap the benefits of society without paying for them. I decided to forego unemployment benefits after my tour because I didn't need the money, while some of the anti-tax and anti-welfare people in my unit gleefully collected them. I also refused to take a housing allowance because I broke my lease when I got activated. Those two decisions probably cost me close to $10,000, but I did it because of a higher principle (don't take what you're not entitled to, and don't ask for what you don't need). Was that "hurting myself," or was that deciding that principles matter and being willing to pay the price?
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@MrMagnaniman What principle are you saying that they violate? Jailing people for tax evasion violates no principle that I know of that the government holds. There is no longer a draft, so no one is being forced to fight a war or being jailed because of this refusal. As far as taxes going to defense, etc., the beauty of democracy is that if you don't like it, you can work to change it, although libertarians run into a snag because of their belief that society is not a thing.
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@MrMagnaniman How do you define what they are entitled to? How do you define what they need?
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@MrMagnaniman If you have real principles, you are willing to pay a price for them, and maybe if enough people pay that price, it would shame society into saying "you're right, tax evasion should not be a crime." I get that there are competing principles sometimes that might complicate things, but "I don't want to sacrifice for principles" means that, deep down, they are not principles. If you're opposed to taxes and all that the government does, you can always go off the grid. A friend of mine who grew up in the Church of the Brethren said that he knew people who were opposed to paying for war, so they limited their income to a level that they would have no tax liability. That is what a principle looks like.
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What would I imagine if government ceases to be? A return to feudalism, at the very least.
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@MrMagnaniman I realize I'm late to this, but you say "peaceful people" avoid confrontation and don't need to sacrifice for principles, nut what about literal pacifists who went to jail rather than go to war? I am a veteran myself, but I respect those people, because they were actually willing to pay the price for what they believed in.
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@boneappleteeth3127 Feudalism is not strictly defined by a monarchy, but the degree to which the few control the many. Most of the monarchs were very weak, and the feudal lords had the power, hence the name.
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@boneappleteeth3127 Feudalism can take many forms. The shoguns in Japan were a version of feudalism that lasted until the 19th century. Russia was feudalistic until the Revolution.
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