> Given democracy, one (adult) person, one vote, a strong case can be made > for a "neutral" poll tax. > Tom Grey
The poll tax is what got Maggie Thatcher thrown out of office in the UK. The problem is that different people benefit differently from government services, and so the poll tax is not well correlated with benefits. The poll tax also amounts to forced labor. The poll tax is how the colonial governments in Africa got the natives to work in the fields. So the poll tax is not really neutral: 1) it is not related to benefits, hence it subsidizes some and penalizes others. 2) it forces workers to work extra to pay the tax in order to get some amount of net income. Fred Foldvary ===== [EMAIL PROTECTED]
