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Re:Calgarians detail life with an electricity load limiter by commandlinefan on Monday March 21, 2022 @03:36PM (#30758700)
> What are my tax dollars for if not ensuring my neighbors don't freeze to death?

If you really feel that way, why not offer to pay their electric bills personally?

Re:Calgarians detail life with an electricity load limiter by dane-pgp on Monday March 21, 2022 @04:04PM (#30759020)
Because that would be a tax on empathy. We shouldn't be taxing socially positive traits like empathy, but instead taxing negative traits like greed. In lieu of a moral balance for weighing souls, I'll accept a tax on accumulated wealth instead.
Re:Calgarians detail life with an electricity load limiter by xxpor on Tuesday March 22, 2022 @01:07PM (#30768690)
I agree with the sibling comment, but there's also a practical reason: I don't want to have to track down everyone that needs assistance and make a personal decision about who needs what. It's much more efficient to have a tax collector and bureaucracy.

For the voluntary vs involuntary part of taxes and charity, that's a moral/ethical philosophical argument that people have been debating for thousands of years. I don't expect to convince anyone here, but I think my view is pretty clear.