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by geofft 3343 days ago
Sure, but is e.g. law enforcement in America a legitimate government power? People on all corners of the political spectrum believe that America's police is entirely too powerful and too militarized and solving all the wrong problems. They believe that even if there exists some law enforcement that is a legitimate purpose of government, the thing America has is definitely not that. If I think there's a good chance that this specific law enforcement organization respond to the cryptocoin spammer with a SWAT team and a CFAA prosecution, is it still legitimate for me to ask that department for help?

And if I'm trying to enforce laws against e.g. someone in another jurisdiction, I didn't pay for that. The funding for that police department was taken from people in that jurisdiction. I can see it being consistent to make use of services that my own tax dollars paid for, but is it legitimate to make use of services that other people's tax dollars paid for, without their consent?