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Do you owe society anything beyond paying your taxes, such as having children?

Furthermore, what is the bare minimum an individual should feel obligated to give back to society?

Amount aside, should taxation even be required? How about military service?

At what point has one given enough to their country?

Do you think your society or country has been especially good to you?

Feel free to opine, debate and discuss.

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Burnley123 · 41-45, M

I support a progressive tax system and would make it more progressive.

Renumeratiom rates are, at best, a weak indicator of how much someone contributes to society. Wealth is produced by collective endeavor but its those with ownership and social status who take the most of it. Nobody is gonna convince me that a hedge fund manager produces more value than a factory worker.

We need to develop a more collective and less individualed way of conceiving of society and contributions. So many right libertarians are completely unaware of how much they have benefited from the state. I also think we need to shift taxation focus away from income and onto wealth. Its where the greatest inequalities lay and its increasing all the time.

This is all about the best ways to use the state in a conventional sense (social democratic). My ideal. Society would have worker cooperatives dominating and a strong democratic state to organise things. We are a long way from that in the UK and elswhere.

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Burnley123 · 41-45, M

@GeistInTheMachine Yes blm is also big here. The police are racist but much yes militirised. Big history of racism though and there is a video on my pinned post that explains it.

N.b i have an americam ex and was once planning to move over there!

GeistInTheMachine · 31-35, M

@Burnley123 You dodged a bullet with that one, my friend!

...Perhaps even literally, knowing this country.

Ha!

I'd still like to visit the UK one day. I wanted to remain on good terms with my ex, since it was a relationship of 5 years, but it was just impossible. Too bad.

What puts me off from living there is their stance against psychoactive substances like kratom, CBD and others. Such as herbal things and supplements.

Burnley123 · 41-45, M

@GeistInTheMachine I know I dodged the bullet but for different reasons than what you mean! 😜

Starcrossed · 41-45, F

Yes ... everyone should engage in acts of community stewardship. If we were all a little more selfless some of the inequities in the world would improve.

I don't want to live in a world where this is mandated/delegated/ordered I want us to have a culture that we just do this because we care. The only way I know how to get there is to continuing to model stewardship to my friends/family/neighbors in hopes they will be inspired to do the same.

hartfire

I'd say the fewer children we have the better it is for reducing global warming and environmental pollution.
Humans have become a plague that is threatening the life of the planet.
We need to learn to live in harmony and balance with nature, or in the long run our species and most of the current round of evolution is doomed to catastrophic global extinctions within the next 50 years.
If the current rate of warming isn't slowed, we will reach food insecurity and massive refugee exoduses around the globe by 2030.

My country treats people fairly, up to a point. There are plenty of exceptions and holes in the systems.
I worked hard and paid for every cent of what I have, but got very little benefit.

G00GLE · 22-25, M

Society isn't the government, and the government collects taxes. Right?
I owe nothing to anyone in the grand scheme of things, because all of it is pointless in the end. I choose to try and be a good person, but out of my own volition not because I think I have to as part of existing.

GeistInTheMachine · 31-35, M

@G00GLE I suppose it depends on how one defines what society is. Perhaps not the best wording.

G00GLE · 22-25, M

@GeistInTheMachine I'll entertain both interpretations:
Do I owe society for anything? Nah. Society isn't a business, there is no contract stating I have to give back this and that for receiving the benefits. Is it morally questionable? Yeah probably. Living off of something or someone without giving back anything is lame, but I believe that it's not an offense if someone doesn't. Homeless people technically don't give anything back to society but depend on it to survive, I don't think they are bad people though.

Do I owe the government anything? Yeah, if it treats you well you do. Can't speak for other countries but Germany provides me with safety from almost anything. But as I wrote that I kinda realized that even then I didn't sign any contracts. Germany is being nice to me either to continue existing or because it wants people from Germany to be safe and secure.
If it's the former than I never really had a choice. I exist to benefit the country, and if I didn't work I'd be ignored, well fed and safe yes, but there is no future in that.
If it's the latter I'm back at the first statement about society. So I guess the wording worked just fine and I didn't think it through.

GeistInTheMachine · 31-35, M

@G00GLE Very well written and thought out.

DunningKruger · 61-69, M

I believe that individuals have a duty to support their society in a variety of ways, and the society has a duty to support the individuals from which it is made. Society cannot exist without individuals, but likewise individuals cannot exist in any meaningful way without society.

GeistInTheMachine · 31-35, M

@DunningKruger Very well put! I too think it should be a two-way street. Too often it's lopsided.

MistyCee

I'm going with the social contract idea here, and that the government's legitimacy depends on the continuing consent of the governed and their right to debate and vote albeit indirectly on what their contribution should be.

Now, I'm going to shut up and let others debate how much that should be.

SW-User

Taxation should be required if we want services. Taxes aren't paid for no reason. I think we need to give if we want or are getting something in return.

I certainly do not think we owe society children.

These are good questions and I don't have all the answers. 😅

GeistInTheMachine · 31-35, M

@SW-User Heh. You have no idea how controversial your post is for some people.

Paying taxes to live in a modern, functioning society? Geeze!

SW-User

@GeistInTheMachine It's a "be careful what you wish for" scenario. If all taxes were eliminated, I'm not sure those who constantly advocate for that would like the results. "Taxation is theft" is just something people shout when they're angry with the government; they're not thinking about the practical consequences of that.

DarkHeaven ·

I can’t carry a child. I’ll just have to do something else.

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DarkHeaven ·

@GeistInTheMachine I suffer extremely severe mental illness, so I’m just trying to stay out of the hospital. I’m basically useless. I am a musician, though, so I guess make music. I contribute with my art.

GeistInTheMachine · 31-35, M

@DarkHeaven You're not useless.

DarkHeaven ·

@GeistInTheMachine ty 🌸

QuixoticSoul · 41-45, M

A society that isn't a complete dumpster fire needs nothing else from its citizens.

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