Pluralistic: 29 Sep 2021 – Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow

https://pluralistic.net/2021/09/29/jubilance/#tolerable-racism

Linked from the previous but worth the read on its own. The bottom line: Conservatives and libertarians alike actually do at least believe that they dislike things like racism, excessive violence by police, removing women's access to healthcare, et cetera.

It's just that they like shaving a few dollars off their taxes more, and will unashamedly compromise ANY principle that they claim to hold as long as doing so leads to any small reduction in their tax bill.

But civilization is an inherently cooperative endeavor. Taxation is not theft. It isn't a crime. IT'S THE PRICE OF ENTRY TO CIVILIZATION. If you want "small government" because you don't want to pay taxes to pay for anything that does not directly and personally benefit you as an individual, you are not a warrior for liberty. You're just a freeloader. You're exactly the kind of parasite upon society that you desperately argue working social services encourage.

#civics #civilization