I think that categorising it as hoarding is a bit of a loaded stance.
I own a home and I have assets that I use to pay my daily expenses. I am, by your definition, asset rich. I don't need to "do" anything other than maintain the investments. (I also do work, but that's besides the point).
On an intellectual level I realise that if we are to have a public sector it needs to be paid for, and that I'm never going to be the arbiter of exactly how the money is spent.
But at the end of the day, I sit here and think, how much do the police, military, and the other basic functions really cost, and is the right way to do that really to say -
Hey, you bought something, give me 20% of that!
Hey, you earned something, give me 20,40,45% of that!
Hey, you sold something, give me 20,28% of that!
Hey, you died? Give me some of that!
etc. etc. If you minimise nothing and just do the "golden path", then you end up paying well over 50% when you stack it, and it feels more like theft than a "trade for civilization" as some like to put it, because I know that it doesn't cost that much.
In my country taxation functions less like "we need this to run the Government", and more like "it's politically popular for us to redistribute". Which is logically how democracy is always going to function, but it doesn't mean that I have to agree.
I prefer to pay for things that I derive benefit from and I think my family, community, country etc benefit from, I prefer not to pay for things that don't, it's honestly no different to me than say, I'll buy a TV if I want one, I won't buy a 100 inch TV because I think that's unnecessary.
>and it feels more like theft than a "trade for civilization" as some like to put it, because I know that it doesn't cost that much.
And ironically enough, it costs money to figure out how to optimize budgets and labor. So your tax minimization is just ensuring that the government always performs the greedy algorithm instead of focusing on a proper traversal of the problem. It's a death spiral.
Also, we can never really say how much something costs. Most funds for taxes go to welfare. Guess what the classic conservative economic administration always targets...
When the government is us there can be disagreement about what thresholds of taxes and services are best for society. Thinking only individually misses the forest for the trees. Private industry's record is just as messy as that of government. Thankfully voting gives us a voice. Private corporations listen only to share holders. (Unless they have competitors which is increasingly rare.) Yet corporations also get to lobby with their deep pockets, and sometimes control communication mediums themselves.
I own a home and I have assets that I use to pay my daily expenses. I am, by your definition, asset rich. I don't need to "do" anything other than maintain the investments. (I also do work, but that's besides the point).
On an intellectual level I realise that if we are to have a public sector it needs to be paid for, and that I'm never going to be the arbiter of exactly how the money is spent.
But at the end of the day, I sit here and think, how much do the police, military, and the other basic functions really cost, and is the right way to do that really to say -
Hey, you bought something, give me 20% of that!
Hey, you earned something, give me 20,40,45% of that!
Hey, you sold something, give me 20,28% of that!
Hey, you died? Give me some of that!
etc. etc. If you minimise nothing and just do the "golden path", then you end up paying well over 50% when you stack it, and it feels more like theft than a "trade for civilization" as some like to put it, because I know that it doesn't cost that much.
In my country taxation functions less like "we need this to run the Government", and more like "it's politically popular for us to redistribute". Which is logically how democracy is always going to function, but it doesn't mean that I have to agree.
I prefer to pay for things that I derive benefit from and I think my family, community, country etc benefit from, I prefer not to pay for things that don't, it's honestly no different to me than say, I'll buy a TV if I want one, I won't buy a 100 inch TV because I think that's unnecessary.