> The question then, is at what point do a bunch of people become a government? What is the magic number? And on what basis does a government have greater rights than the individuals it purports to represent?
is a nonsense argument and it is the crux of the rest of your argument.
The answer to when adding a grain of sand to other grains of sand becomes a pile of sand is not 'never' even if there's no obvious dividing line.
Thanks for the link. This is exactly the problem with the belief in governmental authority.
Where does government get its authority from then?
I say it is from force, and that the force comes from many individual's false belief that government is right to do as it does.
Eg, if you find you don't agree with what government does, can you withdraw? Say you don't agree with government starting a war in another country, and decide not to pay taxes, will you go to jail?
Most people do see that there is no choice, that it is based in force. However, they will also try to rationalise their acceptance of the force, and in so doing propagate the beast.
> The question then, is at what point do a bunch of people become a government? What is the magic number? And on what basis does a government have greater rights than the individuals it purports to represent?
is a nonsense argument and it is the crux of the rest of your argument.
The answer to when adding a grain of sand to other grains of sand becomes a pile of sand is not 'never' even if there's no obvious dividing line.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sorites_paradox