What if instead of paying ever higher taxes, as seems to always be the go to strategy and what most people (rich and poor) are calling for nowadays, we tried something different…
What if the government mandated that the wealthier folks among us had to prove each year that they spent a portion of their money in a way that directly helped solve global issues, either directly or through investments into firms that tackled these types of issues with economical and innovative solutions:
Homelessness
Environmental issues
Climate change
Human trafficking
Overcrowding
Traditional education failing
And a ton of others…
Obviously there would still be taxes for the national defense, emergency response, utilities and roads…
But I think you can all agree most of our taxes are spent poorly with little returns. Most problems are never solved. And most solutions that the government provides are band aids or make the problems worse.
It comes down to incentive and disconnection.
The most successful among us used to be connected to the communities in which they became successful.
My grandfather and his brother in law were both successful members of the small community in which they lived, and gave back by volunteering as firemen. Each of them became fire chief for their time.
They felt a strong need to give back because of the laws of reciprocity and their sense of duty, but maybe that’s not good enough to work on a global scale… we need something more.
How do we incentivize this type of behavior in 2020 when we’re forging our way as a global entity?
What if, instead of just taking their money by force and mostly squandering it, you made the worlds greatest problem solvers responsible for utilizing their time, talent and treasure to actually solve real problems…
…wouldn’t they really get solved?
And we could make it like a game… if they do a great job, they get their money back. Like the top 10% as measured by impact or something.
A certain portion of folks get awarded prizes and we televise the awards for doing the best work on these problems and making the most impact. It then becomes a fun competition.
These are the best problem solvers on the planet and they’re being perversely incentivized to hoard their money so the government doesn’t waste it instead of incentivized/positively reinforced to spend it to do what they do best: solving problems.
Might seem naive and maybe even a little childish. I’m sure there’s a lot of potential reasons why this wouldn’t work.
But all good ideas start as half baked ideas that need testing and iteration: the best thinkers start with thinking outside the box and not being afraid to draw criticism in working them out aloud.
So I’d be open to any and all feedback on this idea.
If you feel so called, contact me on social media… Let’s brainstorm.
I love you, thank you.
