In regard to your last question on taxes, the first question I would ask in response is this: Do you really have that much faith in the government, that they are using your money judiciously, responsibly, fairly and efficiently? If you actually believe that I have a bridge to sell you.
The government is by necessity burdened by an extremely cumbersome bureaucracy, which is a giant sink-hole. But that sink-hole needs to be filled in order for money to reach the places they are needed. Think of it like a hospital: which are more important, the doctors or the administrators? The administrators can't treat patients, but without them the doctors function like headless chickens. This is why a new hospital is first staffed with administrators,
then with medical staff. The money that goes into the hospital funds the administration first, and the medical functions get the money as needed
after that. Because it's the administration that makes sure the money goes where it's needed, after all, but administration isn't going to pay for itself.
So sure, a big bulk of the taxes goes into red tape, and a lot of it is inefficient, but without that red tape government simply cannot function. And yes, once the administration is funded, the administration which channels funds to where it is needed, then money does indeed go where it is needed. I have my free health care, free education, free police, free fire service etc. etc. as proof of that. Sure, it's not
free free; it's paid for by taxes - but that's how I know taxation works.
And even as cumbersome and inefficient as governmental management of taxes is, it is many times more efficient than relying on private citizens to make voluntary donations. If that were the way to go, there'd be no poverty in the US, or at least significantly less of it than in Europe. But such is not the case.
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