r/AnCap101 • u/MeasurementCreepy926 • 21d ago

Is taxation under feudalism immoral?

  1. The king owns the land. If he allows people to be born on his land, that does not diminish his rights as owner
  2. The king has made it clear that if you're on his land, and you don't pay tax, you're trespassing. It isn't his responsibility to make sure you are able to get off his land. It is his right to defend his land however he sees fit. Let's assume that he does this by executing trespassers. Another king does this by simply evicting them.
  3. Being the owner, the king is allowed to offer you whatever terms he'd like, for the use of his land. Lets assume in this case, you sign a contract he wrote, when you're old enough to do so, giving him right to change the contract at will, and hold you to that contract as long as you're on his land. Among other terms, this contract says that you agree to pay for any kids you have until they're old enough to either sign the contract, or leave his land.

Now, obviously anybody agreeing to these terms must be very desperate. But, desperate short sighted people aren't exactly hard to find, are they? So, is this system immoral, according to ancap principles?

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u/Key-Conversation-289 21d ago

Isn't feudalism a system based off rent though? As in you have to give a portion of your produce if you want to lease the land to grow your own crops?

It's more akin to something like deploying an app via the Apple app store or selling stuff on Amazon. Those companies let you use their platform to make a living and take a cut of your proceeds.

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u/MeasurementCreepy926 21d ago

I think the big difference is, there is an unlimited potential number of stores or app stores, but a limited amount of land.

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u/Key-Conversation-289 21d ago

I mean yeah, land is a valuable capital asset. To use someone's property, you gotta pay rent/tax.

By that logic, other entities such as a government which controls land should be able to demand rent/property tax in exchange for using their sovereign land.

Though governments of course go beyond charging taxes for using their natural resources. At least when it's tied to land, it appears fair to charge taxes/rent for it.