johaneriksson.se

Bryan Caplan poses a few questions when asked to be charitable. If the request is not for voluntary charitability, he has an additional one:

When someone actually demands charity via taxation, a fifth question occurs to me:

5. Even if you think you have answers for Questions 1-4, are they so convincing that you think it’s OK to take my money without my consent?

This question should be considered more openly. There are certainly situations where the answer is yes; for some things it is alright to take people’s money without their consent. However, the question is always legitimate and needs to be seriously considered. An honest politician (a contradiction in terms?) or policy advocate arguing that the government should spend money on this or that would not shy away from it.

Of course, the question applies to hidden costs as well, for example the costs of regulation. As for Caplan’s other four questions, while they are relevant I’m not sure that too much weight should be put on 2 and 4 in particular. I’m also a bit sceptical about 1 — the implications of an affirmative answer are unclear.

—-

Andra intressanta bloggar om: politik, välgörenhet, beskattning
Technorati Tags: politics, charity, taxation