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The upcoming, nearly billion dollar, Powerball jackpot made me realize a few things today. (self.Anarcho_Capitalism)

bmckalipAnarcho-Capitalist が 投稿

I suppose I knew that the government wins every jackpot, but I never thought of it like a tax before. It in and of itself, is a tax. A voluntary tax. It made me question whether or not such lotteries could be viably used to fund a government, free of coercion, to provide things that many leftists desire, such as universal healthcare, etc. Such a structure could be a good stepping stone to privatizing government functions.

At the very least, it gives clout to the idea that taxes could be voluntary, which would remove part of the coercive nature inherent to government.

Anyone ever had similar thoughts, or see where I'm coming from?

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[–]kaliber44but, alas, socialism screwed it up 3ポイント4ポイント  (0子コメント)

In Portugal there's an institution called Santa Casa da Misericórdia (Holy House of Mercy) which was founded in the late XV century by Queen Leonor and a priest, and is supposedly the first NGO of the world. Well, actually, there are several of those, all across Portugal and some on the ex-colonies (Brazil, Macau, etc). It's first and foremost a charity that follows the social doctrine of the Catholic Church, and runs a ton of services like eldery care, kindergartens, libraries, small hospitals, etc etc etc. I believe they are also the largest owner of property in Portugal.

In any case, the point is, the Lisbon branch holds the monopoly of most of the forms of legal "games" (as in lotteries, but also some forms of sports bets, etc - the law changed a few months ago and I'm not sure on what forms do they still have the monopoly) in Portugal, and they use the proceedings to finance most (all?) of their social works.

So, point being, your idea could work.

[–]KlatutTa 2ポイント3ポイント  (0子コメント)

Well its not free of coercion in the sense that free market competition is forbidden (private lotteries not allowed). But, it probably is one of the least damaging ways of government raising money.

[–]Pinetarball 2ポイント3ポイント  (5子コメント)

It's a tax on people who can't do math. And it's not a billion, when you take the one time payment, half is gone and then again with taxes.

[–]PhrenicoAnti-egalitarianism 0ポイント1ポイント  (1子コメント)

It's a tax on people who can't do math.

I don't like this line. It is like saying "car insurance is for drivers who can't do math".

Everybody knows the expected value on a dollar gambled is less than $1.

[–]Pinetarball 0ポイント1ポイント  (0子コメント)

The problem comes when you look at a map of where the tickets are bought. They are using using government supplied funds to buy a future which doesn't exist. It's a weird cycle. Of course many people buy these things, but where I live, most are almost third world. We live in a new age.

[–]fretfriendlyCrypto-Anarchist 0ポイント1ポイント  (2子コメント)

I couldn't disagree more. Paying $2 to possibly win several orders of magnitude more is an extremely low risk-to-reward ratio.

Mathematically, it's a good investment.

[–]robstah 1ポイント2ポイント  (0子コメント)

If taxes were voluntary, they wouldn't be taxes anymore. That, and the state would become a business. Doing that will also introduce competition for the government's services. So yeah, it's what An-caps have been aiming for forever now.

[–]Juz16/r/Civcraft 1ポイント2ポイント  (1子コメント)

It's a tax on stupidity, so exactly the sort of people who support the state

[–]netchingrethchAnarcho-Transhumanist 0ポイント1ポイント  (0子コメント)

I do believe that taxes should be voluntary. Perhaps by turning it into a sort of game (such as a lottery), this could be achieved.

I honestly wish that more people would not only see the coercive nature of government, but also try to do something about it. Preferably in a non-violent manner. This idea has merit, and should be proposed.

[–]Senno_Ecto_GammatCapital-Anarchist 0ポイント1ポイント  (0子コメント)

A government funded on voluntary donations would still be objectionable unless it allowed competition in its areas of service. And if it did that, in what sense would it be a government rather than just another market firm?

[–]theorymeltfoolAgorist/voluntarist 0ポイント1ポイント  (2子コメント)

Kind of, but you'd need millions more people playing the lottery way more often. Not sure how likely that is to happen; people are more likely to just pay on a fee-for-service basis.

[–]Dr_JawaThere are no pacts between lions and men 0ポイント1ポイント  (0子コメント)

Yeah, Georgia lottery earnings dropped when the recession hit hard. The lottery is Georgia is used to fund the HOPE scholarship so requirements for it were subsequently increased.

I don't see a lottery being sufficient to fund a nation.