If you advocate for a voluntary tax system, then you're essentially making the tax system as undemocratic as possible. If the government were totally funded by the oil industry, then everyone but the oil industry would become second-class citizens. It would be undemocratic and would be legalized bribery. Using the oil industry-based economy example: If a politician wants to balance the budget (or come through with a healthcare promise) then he's gotta appeal to the oil industry. If a politician doesn't appeal to the oil industry, then all his funding will get cut. Terrible system.
People are already trying this with alternative forms of monetary exchange. BitCoin is a recognizable version of a free market exchange.
Surprisingly I agree with Optimal. Lots of Americans assume governments cat run businesses, but in many countries they have government that have deep hands in businesses and it works fine and efficiently. The Fire stations used to be privately owned, but the businesses messed it up. That's why the governments run them now. America tried privatizing the prisons and it was a huge failure.
Our currency is backed on human capital. Yet you guys talk like you are fighting a slave system. Currency should be backed by other material.
Russia tried communism. It failed. Venezuela tried socialism and it failed. The Nordic counties are under threat of collapse do to a influx of people. The same people that was believed needed to float the countries. The socialist system can't handle it. Right. So we have capitalism and the free market minus welfares. We can't keep printing currency backed by nothing but population projections.
To start, I will address communism. It was pretty successful under communism as compared to its imperial feudalism it had prior. It created equal right for minorities, worker rights for individuals, and became a superpower. It failed mainly due to a lack of capitalism. As I said before, you need both socialism and capitalism working together if you're to get anywhere. Socialism has been in effect to some degree in pretty much every country since 1940. Free education, free healthcare, and welfare have all been very successful institutions in many countries. Programs such as these promote more skilled and more healthy people. Welfare (both unemployment as well as child benefits) has helped families - especially ones with single or unemployed parents - focus more on the education and nutrition of their children. During a recession, sometimes there's simply no jobs to be had, and people who are unlucky enough to have worked for a failed business need some form of money so as to not have to turn to crime or illegal work in order to get by. You also gotta think of the poverty cycle. By helping the whole family out, you are helping their kids acquire skills so that they can move into the middle class within one generation.
Crown corporations are corporations in which it is believed that corporate special interests will get in the way, or where the industry is necessary but unprofitable. So for example, Canada's postal, electrical (in terms of hydroelectric production and power lines), healthcare, and railway companies are all owned by the government. Some industries, such as insurance and telecommunications are also owned by the government in some provinces, but not in others. It is done this way because some industries are prone to monopolization by corporation, such as electrical companies. In America, this monopolization is apparent with that one company who raise their pill costs to $750 per pill because they were the only producer of the pill. If the government were the producer, then there wouldn't be that problem
Is what you are talking about is economic oppression through energy. This is studied and cited, whether the government has control or not this happens.
Competition is the only remedy. Especially when it come to the governments who control the wages and decide what is affordable and not.
That's fair enough hydra, but competition doesn't always work. Look at energy prices now for example, all the people that don't check to see if they can get it cheaper. Force them to check, put in a mandatory maximum contract length of 2 years, and create a government department to monitor and enforce it.
I think California likes BC's hydro n natural gas prices. New York prolly same from Ontario n Quebec for energy.
Good luck guys, it's a good thread. I have a harvest and will be down for 2 days. Peace. Seriously be safe.
Too much being born, and not enough deaths, more than half the people are assholes and the rest actually have some respect.