Re: Preparing the Remnant for the far side of the crisis

[nobody@REPLAY.COM (Anonymous)]

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Tim May wrote:
>The notion of privatizing the system will not really help much, not
>in the handful of months before the impact hits. And there are
>worrisome aspects to this privatization. Recall that previous regimes
>had problems collecting taxes, and issued "letters of marque and
>reprisal" for "privateers" to stop ships on the high seas to collect
>taxes for the crown. Sir Francis Drake made his fortune this way,
>collecting taxes for Elizabeth I.

Letters of marque and reprisal are not generally considered to be tax
collection instruments as the targets were not usually considered
legitimate sources of tax revenue in time of peace.  (Still, Tim would
probably argue that there is no meaningful distinction.)

A stronger analogy could be made to tax collection groups such as the
Farmers General in pre-revolutionary France.  Entrepreneurs could
obtain a franchise to collect taxes for the King, receiving a fraction
of the taxes collected.  My guess is that these franchises were both
purchased and granted outright.

The Farmers General were unpopular and they didn't fare well during
the Revolution.  On May 8, 1794 (Floreal 19, Year II), 27 of these
scoundrels were executed in Revolution Square, including one Antoine
Lavoisier.

The IRS does privatize some of its work in the sense that bounties are
available for informants.  They get a percentage (~10%) of the tax
revenue "recovered".  The percentage drops rapidly as the total take
increases.

Monty Cantsin
Editor in Chief
Smile Magazine
http://www.neoism.org/squares/smile_index.html
http://www.neoism.org/squares/cantsin_10.html

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