Somebody, somewhere must have said, “There is no such thing as a free lunch.” Economies thrive on production because standards of living are based on things like clothing, food, and shelter. Comfortable clothing, yummy food, and warm shelter are even better. Communications gadgets and means of transportation are also helpful.
But no, government has a better idea. They keep trying to find ways to get peoples’ money without providing any creature comforts or gadgets of interest in exchange. One technique is to impart some great significance to an object and advertise the legend to the world. That is supposed to bring people to the locale to drop dollars in hotels and restaurants, so government can collect room taxes. It works when people have discretionary income.
Crumbling infrastructure and organizations who hire kids that want to talk on their cell phones rather than paying attention to their customers are just two reasons why the civilization built by the last two generations is starting to look like a scene from the Planet of the Apes. If government wants to stay in business without the use of force, it needs to give its paying customers something they can use – a library, yes; a majestic lump of conspicuous consumption, you guess.
