NationStates Jolt Archive

Blessed Square, the City of the Blessed

Juan Fernando stood on the high balcony which over looked the square, where most government addresses were taking place today. Juan had been appointed the Economic adviser by President Fogarty. He had some papers in his hands, as he stepped up to the podium. Members of the foreign press, had been designated a position on a nearby rooftop, that kept them away from the mass of Beatusians below, and close to the balcony. Large speakers dotted the square to amplify the speech. At exactly 11:03 am, Juan took a step forward, standing directly in front of the microphone, and began to speak,

First of all, I wish to introduce myself, I am Juan Jose Vittorio Fernando, and I have had the honor, of being appointed, by His Excellency, the Great and Mighty, President Devin Jamison Fogarty, as his personal economic adviser. In this capacity, I have drawn up a new economic police, that, both me, and the President, believe will take the Beatus in a new, and bright economic direct. Upon studying the current economic policy of capitalism, I have found, that it has inefficiencies, that have stood to keep back our economic, and social progress. However, I have developed a plan, to bolster the economy, and revitalize the many dilapidated urban areas. First, I feel the need to explain what we based this new policy on. The basis for it is, that everyone owns what they create, and are free to sell, and trade it as they wish. Therefore things like tables and chairs, belong to those individuals or companies that produce them, which they are then free to sell to others. However, other things, such as land, water resources, and radio frequencies, are not created by any man, and therefor, no man has the right to own them. They should be the property of all the people, as administrated through the government. Now, that does not mean that anyone can just go and use any land they want, for what ever they want. For a yearly tax based on the value of the land/water/radio frequency etc., a person, or entity may retain exclusive use rights to it. Should the person fail to pay the tax, the land will be revoked, and distributed to someone who can better use it. Also, the value of the land/water/frequency, will be calculated with figuring for things such as buildings and transmitters, so someone who owns the rights to an empty plot of land, will have to pay the same as if there was a 50 story appartment building on the site. Or someone who owns the rights to a radio frequency, will pay the same whether they have one transmitter of 40. This will ensure that these resources are developed properly, as there would be no one speculating, or owning an empty lot, and not developing it, as it would not be cost effective to do so. Why own an empty lot, that you have to pay the government for, when you can put a building on it, and make money. This is the basis of our new economic policy. The taxes on the land/water/frequencies, also provide enough income, that we can abolish all other taxes, such as income taxes, and sales taxes, that cause a greater drain on the economy. I know many of you out there, especially those in the international press, may find this a bit confusing, so I will now answer questions from the international press.

A man with a microphone, stood in front of the international press, on the nearby rooftop, with a microphone, waiting for some of the reporters to ask questions.

OOC: so this is like press conference to international news people?

IC:
The Crystalliniah reporter, a shortish woman with black hair and thick glasses spoke up
"So, let me clear this up, your put a tax on a vital - and therfore valuable- resouce such as water what next? air that made by noone do you tax that? You say those uncreated thing are made by noone and noone has right to owns them so you giving them to the government - who shuld not have rights to own them either acording to your policy. What about people who cannot aford tax for reason of age or disablity, how are they getting money to pay water tax?"

OOC: I think the tax is if you want to build a marina or something on the water or bottle it and sell it, not if you're just drinking it or washing with it.

Also, it's not like people don't pay for water now (at least in the US, I dunno how that works elsewhere), it's just really cheap.

OOC: I know that, I probaby was misundertanding, rather than tax on water now which covers thing like cleaning it and stuff, i thought it meant even more like just to even have a right to get it, am I making sence? meh, maybe I was just not really gettign what he was saying. no matters.

EDIT: What i mean is like, this how i'm understanding, it like, I pat tax to get it cleaned but ontop of that i also have to be paying tax to cover "ownege of water" right, so in fact it two tax your pay, one generic water that everone has, and one "now i actuallyt have permission to get water" tax

OOC: so this is like press conference to international news people?

IC:
The Crystalliniah reporter, a shortish woman with black hair and thick glasses spoke up
"So, let me clear this up, your put a tax on a vital - and therfore valuable- resouce such as water what next? air that made by noone do you tax that? You say those uncreated thing are made by noone and noone has right to owns them so you giving them to the government - who shuld not have rights to own them either acording to your policy. What about people who cannot aford tax for reason of age or disablity, how are they getting money to pay water tax?"

Juan smiled at that question, "Yes, I should have know there would have been some misunderstanding on that part. The tax, is not on water, exactly, but on the ownership of things like shorelines, and rivers. Say your company wants exclusive rights to a body of water, you will need to pay a tax on it, just like you would land. Now, well companies that process, and distribute water, will need to pay a tax on the area their facility is located, including portions that are on the water. Anyone else?"