cliff@unmvax.UUCP (02/11/85)
> > BTW, Tim, how big does your majority have to be before it stops being > > "theft" and starts being "taxation"? Everybody will agree that a majority > > of two taking money from a single person on a street is theft. The > > statists seem to think that two million taking money from one million > > in an organized manner isn't theft. Where's the line of decision? > > Please refer to your favorite dictionary. Therein you will find that theft > is by definition "felonious," i.e., unlawful. Taxation is by definition > enforced by law. Whether "taxation is theft" is merely a matter of > *definition* and is not in itself a question of political philosophy. I never did see a reply from Richard Carnes (do you mind a nickname such as RC? Richard Carnes sounds pretty formal--you may call me Cliff) to the following portion of an article I posted quite some time ago (Doesn't mean he didn't reply...we are a few sites downstream of a reliable feed so we miss some things). The basic point is that if someone says X is Y and there exists even one entry in the dictionary confirming X's Yness then the original claim is correct. A simple corallary is when someone claims that X isn't Y, it only takes one entry in a dictionary stating X's Yness to disprove the original claim. Now I am foolish enough to carry on the taxation is theft debate (shouting match?) without a dictionary at hand (not even a lowly Webster's), for I am typing from school, but I believe that not all definitions of theft include "felonious"...I looked it up recently but I don't have it on line. I think the question is pretty foolish--the government does much more severe things that the statist apologists will justify (hey, the Vietnam war was essential to preserving our "democracy"... all those poor people in jail on victimless charges certainly would ruin our middle class lifestyle). Here is the portion concerning dictionary usage that I did not see a reply to (>You> == Richard Carnes, >Me> == an earlier letter of mine > == me): >You> True freedom also implies knowledge. In our society most >You> people's political opinions are formed to a great extent through a process >You> of indoctrination. Their beliefs, habits, and preferences are shaped by >You> outside influences. The fact that people are not threatened by physical >You> force does not make them free. >Me> Yow! Remember all the spelling flames of years past? My next few statements >Me> may evoke some more spontaneous combustion. Your diction is horrible. You >Me> are deliberately misusing words. Again I quote Webster's: >Me> >Me> "freedom n. >Me> 1. the state or quality of being free; especially, >Me> (a) exemption or liberation from the control of some other person or >Me> some arbitrary power; liberty; independence;" >You said that not being threatened by physical force does not make people free. >By Webster's, you are wrong. Why did I pick the first entry in the dictionary? >because that is the one that fit. THE FACT THAT PEOPLE ARE NOT THREATENED BY >PHYSICAL FORCE MAKES THEM FREE BY THE FIRST DEFINITION LISTED IN WEBSTER'S. I >don't have an OED at home, but I am sure you will find a similar definition. >If you had said that it didn't make them free by all definitions of the word >then I wouldn't have quoted Webster's--1, in fact I would have agree with you. >But that is not what you said. Examine this hypothetical dialogue: > >R: The color of a clear sky is not blue. >C: Gee, that's funny, the first entry in Webster's (C also lacks quick access > to an OED) says it is. "1. any color between green and violet in the > spectrum; the color of the clear sky or deep sea." >R: C is a cretin. Notice how he picks an inferior dictonary and then only > looks at the first entry. Of course I meant "9. a sailor". > >So, is R correct? Is the color of a clear sky not blue? Is C really the >inept fool that R makes him out to be because C picks a definition that shows >R is incorrect? --Cliff [Matthews] {purdue, cmcl2, ihnp4}!lanl!unmvax!cliff {csu-cs, pur-ee, convex, gatech, ucbvax}!unmvax!cliff 4744 Trumbull S.E. - Albuquerque NM 87108 - (505) 265-9143