No one has a right to the labors of another, no matter who is paying for it.
Does the POTUS deserve a salary? He is paid with taxes that represent the labor of another. Do you think all taxes are evil?
No I don't. The US managed for 100+ years without a national income tax or any form of payroll tax. Excise & 'sin' taxes did fine right up until the first World War. There were also some usage taxes. The key difference is that, if a particular individual
really didn't want to pay those taxes, they could be avoided by not smoking, not drinking alcohol, never buying gasoline (to drive on the public roads) etc. Also, property taxes (on real estate) are somewhat avoidable also, since they are applied proportional to the market value of the home. So if you deliberately buy the 'tiny house' or the non-luxury condo, even though you could probably afford the McMansion or the penthouse, you are also choosing to reduce your property taxes. Of course, you can also avoid property taxes altogether by living in a tent down by the river. The part that makes income taxes 'theft' is that they are imposed upon the
labor wages of the common man; which, up until 1913 or so, was generally considered immoral because it was, in effect, enslaving the common man to whatever percentage that his income taxes imposed. Fortunately, our income tax is very progressive, so almost 50% of US citizens do not actually pay any income taxes, because they are exempt for one reason or another. I'm one of those people, as I have mentioned in the past.
Does a child have the right to the labor of his parents? Should parents just abandon their children?
A child has the right to be cared for, because s/he exists by reason of actions by his parents, thus imposing an obligation upon them. But only them, not society at large. I have an obligation to my children, because I literally signed a contract to that effect when I adopted them. In addition to signing it, the judge that oversaw the adoptions (in every case) made very certain to ask my wife & I, "You do understand that (name) becomes your child in every way under the law,
as if s/he was born to you?Should convicted felons be required to work while in prison or just watch tv all day?
Felons should be required to pay restitution to victims (and their families), not to the state. If prison labor resulted in restitution payment to the victims, forced labor can be justified due to the (already proven) actions taken by the felons. If restitution is not paid out of that labor, than forced labor cannot be justified.
I can think of lots of examples that contradict your hard line stance, which suggests to me you haven't thought it through very carefully yet. Your labor can be bound to other people in all kinds of different ways.
As you can already see, I most certainly have thought this through quite well, as have many others before me. Of course an obligation can be imposed upon others in many ways, but all of them include the
willful actions of those upon those obligations have been imposed, beyond the simple act of working for a living. In addition to the felon that creates an obligation due to the harm s/he has created upon others, the borrower incurs an obligation by agreeing to repay the lender, and the newlywed has incurred an obligation to honor the marital pact in exchange for the benefits that such a personal commitment brings.
