Don Firth wrote:
When I read Taconicus' posts, what I hear, loud and clear, is the voice of Ayn Rand.

Thanks for the compliment (intended or not), Don, but I don't hold with objectivism. I think compassion and charity, and helping others, is an important aspect of our humanity. I also don't like her attitude toward Robin Hood. I just don't think it's moral to enslave one group of people to help another group. My charity should come from my own wallet, not others'.

In order for societies to exist, there must be a basic contract between government and its citizens that allows for taxation to provide for the common defense (against not only invasion from foreign powers but also against crimes of force and fraud from domestic sources), and to maintain the infrastructure, which includes the environment. But forced taxation for the purposes of redistribution of wealth strikes me as a form of slavery, and therefore immoral. And anyway it never achieves its purpose, just makes life more miserable for everyone except the middlemen and powerbrokers who legislate and administer it.