in all fairness countries with very low taxes frequently have atrocious roads. Ukraine for example has a 2% tax rate, 5% prewar, and anyone who has ever taken a bus from Kharkiv to Odessa can explain for you how fucking miserable it is. this kind of libertarian rhetoric exists in a theoretical vacuum. As if, in the absence of government intervention, hundreds of private enterprises sprout from the aether not only fervently desiring to operate toll roads but also competent at doing so. finally, good road networks generally operate atop the ability of the state to force parties to reasonable terms. I’m sure we can all imagine utopian societies in our head that have nice roads and no taxes or state authority to lay roads regardless of what people who have the land underneath them say. It just turns out that all of the available evidence contradicts our dreams.