France’s 2015 taxes of 75% made rich people secede, so we can take that as a supremum on the minimal tax burden that can make people secede. Of course—France’s rich didn’t have to go live in the woods—they had the option to go to other countries. Also, they did not have the option to not go to any country, because all the land on earth is divided between the countries.
Right, but they’re presumably moving to another country where they’re still paying taxes and participating in the state. If they had the option, do you think that they would prefer to opt out of the state completely (with all the associated downsides), rather than just moving to a country with somewhat lower taxes?
Does the state have the right to prevent its citizens from doing business with whoever they want?
I think we can sidestep this question, because I don’t think the state even has to do this with force. If they just say “anyone who does business with Person X loses access to roads, police, courts, sanitation, etc.”, that’s a very strong disincentive.
Unless you’re really desperate, it just seems like a bad idea to sign any kind of non-standard contract for $10. There’s always a chance that you’re misunderstanding the terms, or that the contract gets challenged at some point, or even that your signature on the contract is used as blackmail. Maybe you’re trying to run for office or get a job at some point in the future, and the fact that you’ve sold your soul is used against you. The actual contract that Jacob references is long enough that even taking the time to read and understand it is worth significantly more than $10. Even with the simpler contract that you’re envisioning, who knows what kind of implications it has? It’s just not worth exposing yourself to these risks for the price of a burrito.