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Most people that say Taxation is theft aren't literally calling for zero taxes though. It's just a saying, and definitely a hyperbole. There are definitely specific functions of the government that need tax funds. They should get the funds. But the amount we pay in taxes to the federal government is outrageous and most of us don't see a return on our "investment."

The only people that 100% literally mean taxation is theft are anarchists.

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> Most people that say Taxation is theft aren't literally calling for zero taxes though. It's just a saying, and definitely a hyperbole.

Then the best thing would be to just stop saying it, and discuss the substantive issues instead. The real issues of what functions need funding, by how much, and how, is a never-ending debate that isn't helped by trite aphorisms, even if, superficially, they seem to cut the Gordian knot.

>The only people that 100% literally mean taxation is theft are anarchists.

Because it is an anarchist argument which attempts to equate government to organized crime. Those hyperbolic anarchists are the ones using the term as intended.

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