You are taking the quote in a too narrow context. Replace pirates preying on internal or international shipping with a bunch of thugs that show up in the market and take every tenth apple for themselves. Or robbing local farmer and craftsman and taking some of their stuff. Or road warriors enacting an environmentally friendly carbon tax on fuel.
I don’t understand what you mean. Is your point that taxes can be justified, and that sufficiently advanced piracy is indistinguishable from taxes? Or that taxes are better than pirates? Or that taxes on trade routes are better than other taxes? I agree with the first two, and was objecting to the last one.
I don’t understand what you mean. Is your point that taxes can be justified, and that sufficiently advanced piracy is indistinguishable from taxes?
Yep.
Or that taxes are better than pirates?
Generally they are because taxes tend towards efficient banditry at the Laffer maximum. A pirate spending a fraction of their income on efficient charity probably beats out taxes. Naturally a better utilitarian solution is to give that pirate more and more power so he can better and better approximate taxation and spend more on efficient charity, until the marginal gain of efficient charity drops to that of other government spending. Now of course maybe taxes are already too high and do more harm than good, in which case the pirate should stop earlier.
Or that taxes on trade routes are better than other taxes?
Efficient charity is a better use of wealth currently than most government programs. If you are an utilitarian and ok with something being taxed and then using that wealth on government programs, you should ceteris paribus be ok with a hypothetical pirate taking a share and giving it to optimal charity. Many people seem not to be. This suggests compartmentalization.
Also illegal means to obtaining wealth to donate to optimal charity is a good strategy that gets very little attention. This is especially the case considering the general relative ineptitude of caught criminals. It is probably true that may LWers can find their strongest comparative advantage in crime.
You are taking the quote in a too narrow context. Replace pirates preying on internal or international shipping with a bunch of thugs that show up in the market and take every tenth apple for themselves. Or robbing local farmer and craftsman and taking some of their stuff. Or road warriors enacting an environmentally friendly carbon tax on fuel.
I don’t understand what you mean. Is your point that taxes can be justified, and that sufficiently advanced piracy is indistinguishable from taxes? Or that taxes are better than pirates? Or that taxes on trade routes are better than other taxes? I agree with the first two, and was objecting to the last one.
Yep.
Generally they are because taxes tend towards efficient banditry at the Laffer maximum. A pirate spending a fraction of their income on efficient charity probably beats out taxes. Naturally a better utilitarian solution is to give that pirate more and more power so he can better and better approximate taxation and spend more on efficient charity, until the marginal gain of efficient charity drops to that of other government spending. Now of course maybe taxes are already too high and do more harm than good, in which case the pirate should stop earlier.
I didn’t mean to claim this.
Efficient charity is a better use of wealth currently than most government programs. If you are an utilitarian and ok with something being taxed and then using that wealth on government programs, you should ceteris paribus be ok with a hypothetical pirate taking a share and giving it to optimal charity. Many people seem not to be. This suggests compartmentalization.
Also illegal means to obtaining wealth to donate to optimal charity is a good strategy that gets very little attention. This is especially the case considering the general relative ineptitude of caught criminals. It is probably true that may LWers can find their strongest comparative advantage in crime.