Paying any tax supports programs that provide life-saving food to poor women and children, health care to sick, injured, and disabled people who have no other way of getting it, and enforcement of justice for everyone in the country.
If you're only going to pick one thing that a government does, yeah, it's easy to cherrypick something awful. But the alternative is literal anarchy, which is a) much, much worse for the vast majority of people, and b) 100% guaranteed not to last, as the people either organically organize a government from the bottom up, or some violent strongman (gender-neutral) (but let's face it, probably a man in practice) emerges and enforces an authoritarian government from the top down. And in either of those cases, they'll levy taxes very soon, whether it's to make sure that the things that a representative government needs can happen, or just to take as much as they can from everyone else.
The purpose of a government* is to provide stability, safety, and prosperity to the people within its jurisdiction.
The purpose of a mob/mafia/organized crime group is to illegally enrich the people at the top in an organized fashion.
Some governments experience corruption that leads them to act similar to organized crime. It does not change the purpose of government, nor mean that it is inherently no better than the mob.
If you have a better suggestion for how society can be maintained, people can be supported, and the common defense ensured, that does not involve a government that is theoretically vulnerable to corruption, then by all means, propose it. You'd probably win a Nobel Prize.
But you won't, because there isn't such a thing. Once you're doing those things, you are a government. Any government, no matter how many or few people are involved, is at least theoretically vulnerable to corruption, but that vulnerability can be reduced by a variety of measures.
And saying "we just shouldn't do that" is a non-starter, both because it's morally repugnant and for the reasons I described in my previous post.
* The obvious exception here is authoritarian governments established by strongmen, as I described previously. However, I would posit that, over time, these will also transition toward seeking to provide at least some level of stability for the people under them, because the alternative is almost invariably to be overthrown when the people get sick of your shit.
ETA: ....But there are also circumstances where local organized crime is the closest a particular geographic area has to a government, and does, in fact, act the way you describe. In those circumstances, depending on the details, it could very well be moral to support the local mob.
By understanding what terms actually mean. It's not "my definition", and you don't just get to pull the relativism card on me.
You want to paint government as a concept as being inherently evil? You need to do the work. Don't just expect me to agree or back down because you can use some deliberately-confusing rhetoric.
Show your work. Show your evidence. Show how government as a concept, not just a specific government at a specific point in time, is inherently genocidal/corrupt/evil/whatever it is you're actually trying to do. The burden of proof is on you.
Sorry, I'm not interested in engaging with someone who just wants me to do all the work when they're the one making extraordinary claims. And if you don't think you're making extraordinary claims...you might want to get out of your bubble.
I understand you're frustrated, but I think we're talking past each other. You're right that I should clarify my position.
When I distinguish between governance and nation-states, I mean that organizing society and providing services doesn't require the specific form of centralized, territorial monopoly on violence that modern states represent.
There are examples throughout history of societies organizing through voluntary associations, mutual aid networks, and decentralized coordination - from indigenous governance systems to modern examples like how communities self-organize after disasters.
You asked me to show how government as a concept is inherently problematic. My point is simpler: the current US system simultaneously funds genuine public goods AND actively harmful policies (military interventions, mass incarceration, etc.). The "all or nothing" framing - that we must accept the whole package or have chaos - seems like a false choice.
My examples of Native Americans and Palestinians weren't cherry-picking bad outcomes - they illustrate systematic patterns of how states expand and maintain power. These aren't unfortunate side effects but core features of how territorial states operate.
I'm genuinely curious about your view: do you think there are any legitimate limits to what a government can do in the name of providing stability and services? Or is any critique of fundamental structures just "extraordinary claims"?
If you're only going to pick one thing that a government does, yeah, it's easy to cherrypick something awful. But the alternative is literal anarchy, which is a) much, much worse for the vast majority of people, and b) 100% guaranteed not to last, as the people either organically organize a government from the bottom up, or some violent strongman (gender-neutral) (but let's face it, probably a man in practice) emerges and enforces an authoritarian government from the top down. And in either of those cases, they'll levy taxes very soon, whether it's to make sure that the things that a representative government needs can happen, or just to take as much as they can from everyone else.