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Comment by bwb | Hacker News Reader

Taxes are good, they pay for civilization and the platform we all operate within :)

I know people hate hearing that, but it is the truth. I am frustrated with how high they are on some things, bad spending, etc. But at the end of the day look around at what we have built as a civilization. That is from the collective pooling of money to build the entire system.

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I tend to agree. I sometimes fantasize that it were otherwise, but I don't think it's really possible to maintain a society of any size or sophistication without a state to do a lot of the fundamental things that keep things moving.

Perhaps there are people who don't want the civilisation and platform we operate in to be paid for.

For sure! No platform is perfect, and our current one needs a TON of improvements.

Then maybe they should go try to find another place to be together, rather than trying to wreck the civilization the rest of us think is pretty important and helpful.

I feel like you're undervaluing the role individuals and private enterprise have on civilization. If there were just a bunch of roads and power lines without homes and businesses it wouldn't be much of a civilization.

I value individuals and capitalism a great deal. But without civilization and a platform that shapes their energy they are just more ants in the ant farm. The platform is what gives them the ability to change the world. That is built in a symbiotic relationship but it seems like we forget the taxes/civilization part and worship individuals to often.

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