My tax bill doesn't come with line items. However, the morality of extorting money for protection is the same as the morality of extorting money to pay Rupert Murdoch big farm subsidies. You seem to believe that forcible taking of another's property is okie dokie.
In any case, if you want to argue for smaller government, you should definitely do so...
If we reverted to what the founders envisioned--not counting Washington--then I'd be so ecstatic I'd have no energy left to protest for further steps toward libertarianism. But it's worth realizing that I favor total respect for self- and property-ownership, even if you do not.
anarcho-capitalism is simply not on the table
I agree--as I pointed out forcefully on a recent crevo thread: anarcho-capitalism is impossible precisely because too many humans are exactly where you are: they haven't evolved beyond the conviction that they are free to impose their wills on others, as long as they believe the cause to be just. If government disappeared tomorrow, you and millions like you would immediately start setting one up--and you and millions like you would cheerfully shoot me for standing in your way. After all, you're trying to create a civilization here!
Well, it would be if you had actually established that there was someone out there who didn't need the army. There aren't, but there are a select few out there who prefer not to pay for the things they need, I guess. Actually, everyone would prefer not to pay for the things they need, given the choice, but most people - and by "most people" I mean "everyone", for all intents and purposes - are sensible enough to realize that it really is something they need, and therefore don't try to angle for a free lunch. The free lunch anglers, on the other hand, caucus at the Denny's on the corner of Third and Main, where they all order separate checks, and they all invariably fail to leave a tip.
I agree--as I pointed out forcefully on a recent crevo thread: anarcho-capitalism is impossible precisely because too many humans are exactly where you are: they haven't evolved beyond the conviction that they are free to impose their wills on others, as long as they believe the cause to be just.
One wonders how you manage to drag yourself out of bed every morning, facing the hellish nightmare of yet another day amongst the Neanderthals. Well, I guess we all have our crosses to bear, right?