Your question of where to draw the line is well taken. But it must be drawn somewhere!

Obviously, assets held in common, and constitutionally mandated duties such as keeping the domestic peace and national defense; which unavoidably do benefit all, one way or another; must be funded in common (ie taxes). Some might even argue that education of one, benefits all. That seems valid on the surface to me - up to a point; but this blanket assertion can get very dubious very quickly - as just one example.

Many areas of gov't involvement are in the grey areas that are subject to honest differences of opinion. But even so, if I don't drive and thus benefit from highways, I don't pay the taxes either. Fair enough. If public transportation takes enough traffic off the roads so that they are no longer completely strangled, allowing me to get through, then gas taxes spent there benefit me too - fair enough. But most taxes no longer go for things where value is traded for value, especially not voluntarily and not individually either.

BTW, Most hospitals are private, and you pay for what you get or you don't get it - if you even get it then. Same for the few public hospitals around here - no freakin' difference - except the public hospital charges you twice - once in taxes, and again when you use it, charging the same high fees as a private hospital.

My "Taking from those who earned it to give to those who didn't", refers more to those areas where there is no need for commonly held assets; and especially where only narrow special interests benefit - at the expense of those who don't.

My specific issue is with the many politicians who talk and act like they have forgotten -- the basic justice in the notion; that wealth rightfully belongs to those who created it by their own effort, and is traded voluntarily - value for value. The injustice of deviating very far from that fundamental principle, is I think, rather obvious. Forgetting it after you're elected is obscene and offensive. Most have, it seems!

The current notion of "Redistribution of Wealth" that has oft been spoken of at the White House of late, will deviate too far from this principle of justice, if it goes beyond simply assuring that those who actually did create wealth, actually receive it.

But that's all I'll say here - as we begin to digress off the railroad topic a bit.
Besides, I need to get busy before the boss gets stressed.

OPB