RE: Is Taxation Theft?
Ah, sorry for the late reply. I have been busy. Thanks for responding with some good material though!
I'm asking if you think this right is sovereign.
I read a book once, called Ishmael by Daniel Quinn. The whole book is a story of a wise Gorilla who teaches an apprentice about the history of humanity and the advent of agriculture. How we started becoming "takers" instead of "leavers". Putting everything under lock and key and demanding payment for access to what was originally everyone's and no one's. It was one of the most interesting books I've ever read. I only bring it up because I believe it relates to what you are asking me... I do not think that anyone has any true 'ownership' of anything in this world. We are born into it alone with nothing, and we will leave it alone with nothing. The thought sounds very grim but it is actually quite liberating to me. Possessions aren't everything, and the more people who realize that the better off we become as a whole, I believe.
I haven't jet come across an idea or concept of how the government could function in a decentralized fashion without taxation.
I kind of like the idea the crypto-sphere is running with... like Proof of Steak voting. Or like Steem with the witnesses. It is decentralized and the heart of it is not a group of people, but an unbiased platform that people from all backgrounds can come together and participate in. Money that is allocated via donations, or payments to participate in the voting process could be budgeted out for different causes (like healthcare, poverty assistance, the elderly, etc...). This of course is not an original thought and is being implemented by a bunch of altcoins already. It's a long shot, but I could see the future of government becoming a decentralized social network. Why not?
My supposedly bold claim is about the internet meaning this particular internet.
I didn't mean to sound salty, my bad.
That's why I see the claim that creating a truly global network of any sort would be much less likely without centralized standardization and regulation efforts and even if it might be possible, it would take much longer for it to evolve and/or be created.
You're right, there was a lot of different institutions that came together to make this a success. Maybe this is the one version of reality where it just happened to turn out right. I still don't think it impossible for a global network to have happened in any number of other possibilities that could have come together in alternate forms and fashions. I'm a bit of an optimist about potentialities I guess.
But yeah, that is a huge rabbit hole indeed :)
Way huge!
Thank you for your reply!
I see no major point I disagree with. As far as steemit goes, I would say it is not practically decentralized in terms of it's government and it is quite close to a parliamentary democracy with people voting for individual MPs. It is not unregulated as there are a lot of regulations and some hardforks introduce really drastic changes.
Because of the book you mentioned, I started thinking, is ownership really a sound concept. If taxation can be viewed as theft, isn't ownership a kind of regulated embezzlement? (just a comparison)
Maybe this could be a topic @nobox could use for a post :)
Nice chatting with you @rocking-dave! I like the way you think.
Thank you, it has been a pleasure! :)