[VLM]

Its not possible in general to earn anything without the existing systems in the background, ranging from national defense to roads to police to medical care to education. This is the Robinson Crusoe problem. If you rely on the police to not get robbed on the way home from work with "your" money then you have a moral obligation to pay your share of their salary.

Another problem with volunteering is half the population is below median and most of the world's population is pretty stupid and live outside organized society, indicating a voluntary society would only be sustainable if participant IQs were limited to perhaps 120+. People who are proven to have poor time preference or inability to socialized in a civilized manner can't be relied on to volunteer appropriately and need the gun and whip to behave appropriately, including ethical and moral "volunteering". So you end up with a clone of the existing system where smart enough people can cheat the system if they are unethical enough, or if they feel the system is unethical enough. Cheaper and simpler to leave the system alone than to rebuild it ending up in the same place anyway.

Given that, it should always be possible to opt out and go full Amish WRT refusal to fund the "real education system" or whatever... however note that even they have more or less non-optional tithing which is an income tax by another name.

[escherize]

No. If you volunteered into a contract with a company or group who would protect you, then you would indeed have a moral obligation to pay. It's theft to levy taxes for involuntary services. Explain to me how a mafia boss coming into your store and offering you protection is different than your much-better-equipt government.

Your second paragraph is an excellent argument against democracy.

[Chris2048]

The usual implication is that the mafia boss will themselves create the harm that they are protecting you from if you don't pay.

[chrishynes]

Exactly. The government will send men with guns to get you if you don't pay.

[Chris2048]

This is different - Without the mafia, there is nothing to be protected from. The things the government protect you from exist independently.