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Comment by monort | Hacker News Reader

Society is just a bunch of people. They can agree about something among themselves, but they can't force that agreement on others.

Imagine you are in a bar with friends, and they agreed, that you should pay the bill. Can they collect your money by force? Clearly the answer is no.

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A liberal democratic Western society has law. That is what is missing from you and your friends out at the bar. Just by being born into society, you have to agree to be governed by that explicit system of law. This, now, includes income taxes, policing, etc.

To your example, specifically, if you and your friends had an explicit system of law governing your night on the town, then yes, they could agree that you should pay the bill and collect the money by force.

Being born into system can't be an explanation, because it can explain slavery too: by being born into slavery society you have to agree to be governed by that system of law.

You don't have to agree to it, because it doesn't matter. You don't have a choice so you are in slavery.

In modern states, you don't have a lot of choices either. But at least, even though you are "forced" into a society, you eventually get the right to participate politically.

That is a strawman argument if ever I saw one. Nobody outside of "the society" is forced to pay taxes, even if membership is not completely voluntary. So yes, the majority should be able to force their will on the minority, within reason.

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