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PaperclipPerfector  1mo ago (text post)   2895 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for October 12, 2025

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Can someone please steel-man the American system of making individual citizens responsible for filing their taxes in a hopelessly complex tax code, then punishing them for making mistakes? From where I stand, it all just feels like racketeering by H&R Block et al. to extort fees year after year.

Can someone please steel-man the American system of making individual citizens responsible for filing their taxes

MODE OF STEEL ON

In a free democratic republic, citizens should be aware about the true cost of state, and if they think it is too high, they should organize and vote for smaller and leaner government.

MODE OF STEEL OFF

Yea, it looks, walks and talks like mob extortion, but, unlike most parts of the system, can be steel manned. Not that it was ever deliberately designed for this reason.

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