No middle ground is possible on this subject. Either
"taxation without consent is robbery," or it is not.
If it is not, then any number of men, who choose, may
at any time associate; call themselves a government;
assume absolute authority over all weaker than themselves;
plunder them at will; and kill them if they resist. If,
on the other hand, "taxation without consent is robbery,"
it necessarily follows that every man who has not consented
to be taxed, has the same natural right to defend his
property against a tax-gatherer that he has to defend it
against a highwayman.
