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RE: Steemit will make the world an anarchic, voluntary society

in #steemit8 years ago

Thousand men fear one taxman, because there is no way of knowing who he will chose to make an example of. That's the sad reality I'm afraid. There is too much social inertia and too much of "authority is not to be questioned", even in countries where cheating the state is kind of a national sport - everyone knows we're being conned, and we do cheat state when we feel we can get away with it, but to openly fight the oppression? No, that almost never happens, and when it does the state almost always wins anyway.
But, as you said, there is always hope in escaping by technological means - moving forward faster than the state can, creating new reality faster than the state can absorb/understand/pervert it. The only way out is not left, not right, but up :)

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My experience is a little different to yours... I live in Mexico, and people have no problems questioning authority. Even when I speak to a lot of people who work for the state, bureaucrats and policemen, they agree that government isn't the way to do things.

we do cheat state when we feel we can get away with it, but to openly fight the oppression?

I'm not talking about fighting the state though. I'm talking about something much more beautiful... I'm talking about ignoring it.

I agree that for they're afraid of one taxman, and that's the sad reality - for now. That won't necessarily continue into the future. As I mentioned to @cardsanarchy, it's still rather speculative. But that's the trend I see developing based on the premises that: 1. people like keeping, spending, giving their own money as they choose; and 2. the more anonymous they feel, the more likely they are to ignore laws - especially those that punish victimless crimes. As I mentioned, there really isn't too much difference between sharing movies and evading taxes - providing it is a common practice. The penalties are comparable. Of course, it takes a few brave souls to go first, perhaps even to advertise the fact. Once you are one of thousands or millions, it'll seem a lot more natural. Time will tell.

There are also several technical questions which the tax authorities will have to look at. At the moment, in some jurisdictions, if you hold crypto and don't realise your gains in fiat currency or purchases, you are not taxed on those gains. Now, if I take my SBD and put it into Dash, and cover my tracks a little, nobody will be able to say how much I finally put into fiat currency or spend. So, all I have to say to those tax authorities is, good luck.

Thanks for your comment and have a good one