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I apologize for not needing as much space as I assumed.


From page 9 (edited):


The former visitor to this forum who's anger prohibited his message being seen by the public was not off-the-wall in that message.

The proof of his visit is found in hidden messages and threads in this forum.

Numerous historians and philosophers have held the same message to be true.

The visitors basic message was

taxation = theft

.

I have prepared to make a case for his message because he deserves to be heard.

New(ish) Player

:

This is YOUR world, and I'm just a squirrel tryin' to get a nut.

RS3: The game where RWTers are more important than Real Live Players

23-Jan-2023 17:48:12 - Last edited on 24-Jan-2023 02:44:32 by Ruby_Red0

Taxation = Theft

Proponents of this position see

taxation as a violation of the non-aggression principle

. Under this view, government transgresses property rights by enforcing compulsory tax collection, regardless of what the amount may be.

In the 17th century, John Locke of England takes the position in Second Treatise of Government that government authority arises from the consent of the governed, and not through the divine right of kings.

New(ish) Player

:

This is YOUR world, and I'm just a squirrel tryin' to get a nut.

RS3: The game where RWTers are more important than Real Live Players

23-Jan-2023 17:48:17 - Last edited on 23-Jan-2023 18:10:31 by Ruby_Red0

The libertarian activist L. K. Samuels (American b.1951), asserts in his " Rulers' Paradox " that since the citizenry is the holder of all rights, governmental bodies derive their authority to govern society via elections of government officials. In that vein, Samuels maintains that citizens can only give rights which they have.

The Rulers' Paradox comes into play when governmental bodies exercise rights that the citizens do not hold or could not hold.

According to Samuels: "If ordinary citizens could assassinate, steal, imprison, torture, kidnap, and wiretap without incrimination, that authority could be transferred to government for its democratic arsenal of policymaking weaponry."

Taxation could be viewed as theft

since, according to Lockean natural rights doctrine, government authority must obtain their rights from the citizenry.

New(ish) Player

:

This is YOUR world, and I'm just a squirrel tryin' to get a nut.

RS3: The game where RWTers are more important than Real Live Players

23-Jan-2023 17:48:25 - Last edited on 23-Jan-2023 18:08:13 by Ruby_Red0

Lysander Spooner, a 19th-century lawyer and political philosopher, (this guy had a whole lot on his mind) who had argued before the United States Supreme Court, wrote the essay No Treason: The Constitution of No Authority .

In it he stated that a supposed social contract cannot be used to justify governmental actions such as taxation , because government will initiate force against anyone who does not wish to enter into such a contract.

New(ish) Player

:

This is YOUR world, and I'm just a squirrel tryin' to get a nut.

RS3: The game where RWTers are more important than Real Live Players

23-Jan-2023 17:48:29 - Last edited on 23-Jan-2023 18:06:11 by Ruby_Red0

As it relates to serving a segment of the population, allegedly for the common good of the game:


The 19th-century French economist Frédéric Bastiat described

taxes as legal plunder

. Bastiat held that the state's only legitimate function was to protect the life, liberty, and property of the individual .

Now, legal plunder may be exercised in an infinite multitude of ways. Hence come an infinite multitude of plans for organization; tariffs, protection, perquisites, gratuities, encouragements, progressive taxation, free public education, right to work, right to profit, right to wages, right to assistance, right to instruments of labor, gratuity of credit, etc., etc.

And it is all these plans, taken as a whole, with what they have in common,

legal plunder

, that takes the name of socialism.

New(ish) Player

:

This is YOUR world, and I'm just a squirrel tryin' to get a nut.

RS3: The game where RWTers are more important than Real Live Players

23-Jan-2023 17:48:32 - Last edited on 23-Jan-2023 18:03:54 by Ruby_Red0

Murray Newton Rothbard was an American economist of the Austrian School, economic historian, political theorist, and activist. He argued in The Ethics of Liberty in 1982 that

taxation is theft

and that

tax resistance is therefore legitimate

:

"Just as no one is morally required to answer a robber truthfully when he asks if there are any valuables in one's house, so no one can be morally required to answer truthfully similar questions asked by the state."


As it relates to only taking opinions expressed on Reddit:


Andrew Napolitano (American syndicated columnist) attempts to justify the position that

"taxation is theft"

in his book It Is Dangerous to Be Right When the Government Is Wrong where he asks a series of rhetorical questions like "Is it theft if one man steals a car?"

....and "What if a gang of ten men take a vote (allowing the victim to vote as well) on whether to steal the car before stealing it?", showing what he believes are similarities between

theft and taxation

.

New(ish) Player

:

This is YOUR world, and I'm just a squirrel tryin' to get a nut.

RS3: The game where RWTers are more important than Real Live Players

23-Jan-2023 17:48:36 - Last edited on 23-Jan-2023 17:59:43 by Ruby_Red0

23-Jan-2023 19:45:56

23-Jan-2023 22:58:42

Original message details are unavailable.
This isn't an effective way of making a point about the tax issue. All it's doing is obstructing discussion on the topic. I think at this point it'd be more constructive to discuss what they could've done instead of the tax to balance the player economy as well as the issue with the implementation of the tax rather than making quotes about IRL taxes and making this look like a rant thread.

Well, first, I think people have a right to be heard. And although I would prefer it to be a calm and intelligent and polite discussion, not everyone is capable of such self-control when they are angry, or upset, or just plain hurt.

Second, I think cultural beliefs are a part of every game system. For example: June was Gay Pride month, and although not every player is LGBTQ we all were exposed to and dealt with that culture in the month of June.

Likewise, Americans, the British, and French have all had historical Revolutions regarding taxation without representation. Im sure other people have tax related histories in their cultures as well.

Third, with all due respect, what they could have done doesnt matter, if they wont repeal what they did do.

If you have a reason to believe talking about what they could have done would somehow change what they did do, then I bow to your intelligence on the matter, and your longevity at playing the game.

Having heard nothing but how pleased they are with the changes they made, I have no optimism in that regard. Sorry, Im only human.

These are my reasons for the post I made explaining historical nuances regarding taxation. And, my reasons for not saying, "Yes Mel. Of course, I feel just like you do."

As for me, since I see no light at the end of the tunnel, I have to adapt to what serves me best, just like Jagex did.

I wish you well Mel. Im sorry you seem unhappy with what you see here, but we are told that in the end, the truth will set us all free.

Seek your truth girl.

New(ish) Player

:

This is YOUR world, and I'm just a squirrel tryin' to get a nut.

RS3: The game where RWTers are more important than Real Live Players

24-Jan-2023 02:22:10