Intergalactic Summit

There were no taxes within or between tribes before the Amarr came, with their imperialistic ways. There were fees for services rendered, and free trading. Taxes are a foreign concept that participates to the enslavement of the masses and leads to corruption.

The ways you have adopted benefit more the greed of your overlords and their thirst for power. They have assimilated you.

I noticed the no taxes thing. That's ...

... interesting. Is there a form of high-functioning government that doesn't require taxes?

I mean, to have fees and free trade, you probably have abstracted wealth (money). To manage money, on the face of it, you would need government-- to determine how much to produce, prevent or limit counterfeiting, and so on.

To run the government ...

... How does this work, exactly, Ms. Talaminada?

Generally, established large merchants do not trade with their own name. They move goods and ISK through a series of proxy agents. The Caldari State Megas are very fond of such things. Set up shell corporations that are most definitely not affiliated with them, move money through a very circuitous route to throw off the auditors, move goods via courier contracts. That's where capsuleers come in. In general, we do not really ask too many questions.

There's also the dead drops method, but the ISK still has to flow through a circuitous route.

But you are right, there are usually reluctance to make such an exchange. There are alot of risks and effort involved.

While we are still on that topic, I recall that during the Elder War, large quantities of insorum were deployed to free slaves from the effects of vitoxin and vitoc addiction. We never saw insorum of that amount ever since then. What's up with that?

Hey, I got into the PTS program, and closes thing I ever got to a voluval just made my skin kinda blue and my stomach try to leave through both ends. It turns out whoring out copious amounts of ill-gotten money can oil even the most rusted doors.

A published Ishukone academic history doesn't hurt at all, though.

Really? You believe that we conducted the massive amount of communal effort, including collecting communal revenues, needed to put up orbital infrastructure and colonize other planets before the Amarr came... and did it with only free trading and service fees?

Please expound upon the socio-economic miracle that made that possible.

Behaviour like that won't get her through the door in any self-respecting Federal organisation, so I reckon she had a rich daddy and her ascension was probably done back-door.

I have many books. Or rather, Isi has many books that she uses as sources during our dinnertime conversations about anything academic under the sun. The Minmatar Empire of old was unlike the Amarr Empire in that it was considerably much looser union. I reckon they must had elected their Emperors from what appeared to be an evolution of Tribes back in the day.

The titles are as follow: The Minmatar Empire, Before the Storm, The History of Pator, Ancient History of the Tribes, Republic Society of Archeology Report Vol 30 to 56, etc.

And like it or not, for something as massive as a one-world order, especially one that reached out for the stars, traverse the void and settle far-flung worlds, there will be taxes.

And ants do have taxes. How did you think they keep the soldiers, who are so specialised that they can't even feed themselves with their jaws, and the queens, who do not move at all, fed and functional? They were fed by the efforts of the workers, who give a cut of all their found foodstuff to these vital members and core of the colony.

((Eve: Source. The book made mention of Pre-Days of Darkness Minmatar civilisation including a tidbit about The Minmatar Empire. Page 082. Look it up

Also, in case you wonder about 'Elected Emperors', that has happened before in the Holy Roman Empire. Even then they still have their taxes))

I notice you're still failing to present an alternative. Again - please expound upon the economic miracle that made the development of interstellar colonization possible without taxation.

In response to the Original Statement by Ms. Selunix.

Just a few on thoughts on strengthening the Republic economy:

If Gallentean style unregulated free-market capitalism is continued in the Republic then a serious look at the percentage of total GDP of the finance sector (both by foreign and domestic banks) should be paid. I would say if it's anything above 3-4% of total GDP then the Republic is facing a financialization of its economy and a shift from the traditional roles of finance and banking from acting as the intermediaries of citizen savings to provide capital to business and industry; to more purely speculative practices and trading which only enriches those already involved in the financial sector while reducing productive lending and increasing debt -- the backbone of finance -- to the detriment of the rest of society.

If the above is the case as regards the Republic then its political shift of the locus of power from a Parliament which appears to have increasingly governed in the Gallentean traditions of allowing lobbyists, banks, and CEO's to subsidize the candidates of their choice who would legislate in the interests of finance in the name of the free-market; towards the traditional cultural polities of Clan and Tribe and their Chiefs can only be considered a good thing.

This because the Clan and Tribal Chiefs are not beholden to faceless party apparatchiks whose policies are premised on political cronyism and venal self-enrichment from Gallentean executives and corporate lobbyists at the expense of the lives and interests of their own constituents. Rather, the Clan and Tribal Chiefs are beholden first and foremost to their own people. It is this very social responsibility and accountability that I believe will be instrumental if the Republic is to realize a truly robust and prosperous economy.

An inclusive capitalist economy where lending is directed not towards a narrow tranche of wealthy few at the expense of an impoverished many. No, I believe the Minmatar Chiefs understand where their economic best interests lie and that is in the implementation of regulations and practices that redirect financial capital where it should go:

To productive Minmatar companies and industries to pay fair and equitable wages to workers with the intention to create a middle-class able to promote further economic growth and job creation through domestic consumption and spending.

@fakeveik

It is hard to imagine how an advanced space faring people like the Matari were prior to the Day Of Darkness managed to finance development of space ships that traveled near light speed. History states clearly that the Matari had accessed gates but had not reversed engineered them prior to being invaded.

While it might be quaint to think of that era Matari as not being technologically advanced, it is inaccurate. Saying they were not as advanced in warfare, spaceflight, and gate construction as those who invaded is more accurate.

In all the oral history that was passed down and has since been dug up and rediscovered on our home worlds I have never encountered any record of an anti-government anti-taxation faction of any substantial size. No doubt in any sizable population group you can find people for and against anything, but they never consisted of a large enough group to even be a myth.

It is not reasonable to put forth a theory of a multi-planet space faring people that had no structure that could support advanced R&D that would have been essential to the development of their civilization.

The fact that the Matari had enjoyed about two thousand years of peace prior to being invaded certainly points to why their military was not up to the defense of the home worlds, but that undisputed fact indicates that they had a military that had to have been funded.

I would be interested in hearing specific details of a fully fleshed out theory that would make the climb to an advanced space faring civilization possible without government taxation. Short of that being presented I would have to charecterize the current presentation of this concept as merely a baseless IGS rant. If there is more substance to it please present it for our consumption and discussion.