the T(axable) in Taler makes it useless.  Arguing that we should build systems to help mass coercion and theft (taxes) to meet in the middle is completely misguided. 

Middle ground of what? Complete freedom that we inherently should have but was slowly and surely eroded through decades and centuries of narratives and monopoly of violence? 

There is no middle ground for freedom. You are either free or you're a slave. You might be decently dressed and have sufficient caloric intake of garbage provided by dear government, but you are still a slave. If noone is whiping you on daily basis it doesn't mean that you're free, it only means that the whip is invisible and prison walls built from ideas, not concrete.