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Comment by mattmaroon | Hacker News Reader

I have to admit, I hate anyone who says something like:

"That means $5 million more going to music education instead of another tank in Iraq or a banker's bailout bonus."

Because that is where all tax money goes. I'd say >90% of tax dollars go to something way more important than music education, though I guess if I had cashed out of a music startup I might be selfish enough to convince myself that is untrue.

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Music education was important to him. For other people maybe other things are more important. They can donate to other cause, or pay voluntary taxes.

What paid for the roads he took on his way to music classes? What funded the internet he made money off of? What paid for the tanks that kept his country in such a state that people could spend time studying music rather than fighting civil wars and subsistence farming? I'm sure I'm no more a fan of the Iraq War than he is, but I'm glad we have tanks and nukes, if for no other reason than their very existence reduces the likelihood we will need them.

If everyone gave their money to helping other people with their hobbies, rather than paying taxes, would you want to live here?

He still pays for that from his personal income, and pays a lot more than most of others do.

This is a strange argument. He isn't dodging taxes - the same tax code that pays for roads and tanks also specifically encourages people to give money to charities, by providing legal deductions. That's all he's doing.

The government has a mandate, and the power, to fund itself. The same isn't true of charities.

It's not the action I object to, it's the dismissal of what taxes do.

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