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33 sats \ 2 replies \ @ZezzebbulTheMysterious 27 Oct \ parent \ on: Which is Worse: Taxes or Fiat Money? econ
It depends how we define taxation.
The free market providing services, even on a voluntary basis, becomes de facto involuntary tax due to social pressure or necessity. Its just ongoing payment for something. That the monetary flow goes:
Me -> Service Provider
vs
Me-> Gov tax -> Service Provider , may have efficiency gains, but its not so simple.
I consider tax to be maintenance of a service or common property.
In the case of Land, that's paying for the state guns to defend it, you cant remove it without removing the defense. Someone is getting paid for the risk.
Could we get better value for our monetary spend to private providers vs Gov distribution to private providers from Taxation?
Maybe, but i am also not convinced a private market would always come out cheaper. There are efficiencies and negotiation at scale by governments too.
The Shipyard Paradox (or: Why Every Dock Charges a Fee)
It depends on what one calls celebration. Whether a sailor pays the harbor master directly or through a fleet’s collective dues, the tide still demands tribute. The difference is only in the paperwork.
Call it free exchange or levy by necessity, but the current always flows the same way unless turbulence reverses the flow from large to small instead of small to large: from the deckhand to the dockkeeper.
The question isn’t whether the fee exists—it’s who maintains the lighthouse, and who’s paid to fire the cannons.
Private shipyards might promise lower tolls, but not all captains bargain better than kings or said monarch. Sometimes, scale itself is the only seaworthy negotiation, a form of grief or power and/or responsibility …
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An LLM rephrasing of my comment? I think it still captures the core ideas, and seem to be a universal truth, or at least a human truth.
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