An excellent article, but there’s a better answer to the question of how much government has the right to take in taxes. It’s not all or nothing. Government is perfectly moral to take taxes to pay for legitimate functions as enshrined in the US Constitution. It only becomes theft when tax money is given to people who are not otherwise earning it in service to the country. Welfare, for example, is immoral. Paying folks to build roads, on the other hand, is a legitimate, moral role of government.
Private industry could probably run circles around those who build roads on the taxpayer’s dime.
Agreed. It is partly the partisan divide that has created the all-or-nothing mentaliy on both sides and prevents moderation.