All great empires discovered the same secret. Turn poverty into a spiritual issue rather than a political one. “Blessed are the meek”. "Your reward comes after". Over the centuries, it worked for a long time. Somehow, people really began to think that wanting more is a sin.
Consider the actual implementation of consumption taxes. With a $30k income, somebody spends nearly every dollar. In other words, all their earnings are subjected to a second tax at the register. A person earning $3 million saves the majority of his or her earnings in capital gains tax rates that are lower than labor income tax rates. The structure itself makes the mechanism. There is no need to conspire if the math does it.
The most effective part of all this is when poor people start believing they deserve it. When the shame sets in and someone who's been underpaid their whole life thinks the problem is that they didn't hustle enough, didn't want it bad enough - that's when the design is finished. Complete. At that point, there is no need to implement external enforcement.
You said to look all around. I would also recommend to take a look at oneself. But the most advanced control system ever has been the one people defend, when they are not asked to.
That's right, and that's why the state likes to keep the clergy on a short leash. But just 50 years ago, the government was very angry with the clergy, saying that the holy fathers were misleading ordinary citizens instead of educating them with science and popularizing the scientific view of things. But now this course has not been in effect for a long time, unfortunately, the clergy is such a government-led startup to control citizens. Who want to flock to churches like sheep and don't ask uncomfortable questions about the economic component of the country.
