A Great Tax Reform: Voluntary Taxation By Lottery

Posted: 9/2/2017

Trigger

Recently, I came across this incredible article:

Early American Government Ran on Lotteries, Not Taxes

I was truly stunned by the content of this article. Anyone who follows my blog knows that I am strongly in favor of citizens and businesses to be able to choose voluntary taxation to fund most government expenditures (see my previous blog about voluntary taxation here).

Historical Examples

Based on the above article, who knew that (emphasis added):

1. “In the 17th and 18th centuries, lotteries were a thriving business, both public and private, and without them, early America couldn’t have been built.”
2. “... the first lottery used to raise government revenue and offer a cash prize was held in Florence, Italy, in 1530.”
3. “By the 1700s, lotteries were a popular way to raise money for all sorts of projects and were seen less as a sinful pastime than a civic duty.”
4. “In the early 18th century, The Independent reports, the Archbishop of Canterbury lent his good name to lotteries funding the British Museum and Westminster Bridge.”
5. “In 1776, the Constitutional Congress held one to benefit the soldiers of the Revolution.”
6. “Once the colonies won the war, the new states leaned heavily on lotteries to raise revenue, in part because they were not eager to tax newly independent citizens who’d just rebelled against taxation by a central authority. Lotteries funded the growth of the country’s earliest colleges, including the College of New Jersey (later Princeton), Dickinson College, Harvard, and Yale, of many, many churches, and of iconic buildings, including Boston’s Faneuil Hall, which needed to be rebuilt after it burned down in 1761.”
7. “But in the 19th century, the popularity of lotteries waned as they were haunted by corruption. It was easy enough to announce a lottery, sell tickets, and abscond with the money without offering a prize. In New York and Massachusetts, lotteries were banned in the 1830s, and later in the century most states followed suit.”
   [This seems to be more a problem of law enforcement and not of lotteries per se. I think, this was a cheap excuse or pretense to get rid of voluntary financing of government.]

To Those In Opposition Of Voluntary Taxation

I don’t think there are any compelling or convincing reasons not to return to lottery as a way to voluntarily finance most of government expenditures.

To those who claim only compulsory taxation of citizens and businesses is realistic or only compulsory taxation generates enough revenue (unfortunately, there are way too many making these claims) are detractors of individual freedom and are enemies of human progress.