There's a good reason why some people quit doing what they ought to do. Although most of us don't do it directly for the rewards per se, it's nice to get something in return or at least have our efforts appreciated. However, that's not how the world works. Like Milton Friedman pointed out, there is no system established by man that rewards virtue. In his landmark work "Human Action", Ludwig von Mises makes the contention that people live lives of virtue because they value virtue more than anything else. It's ok until you get punished.
My local utility company announced that they will soon be implementing a monthly usage fee based on the size of your water service line. They are doing this to pay for a new water intake out at Lake Mead. When they budgeted it, they unwisely extrapolated current construction in Vegas during the boom as going on in perpetuity, and now those of us who have been financially wise will have to pay the price. The people who steal from me are about to tell me what’s fair.
According to their direction, the incentives of the government, and a sense of personal responsibility, I use water responsibly. I know that water makes the difference in the desert, and my landscaping is designed to use a minimum amount of water and lose a minimum amount via transpiration. Consequently, I only use about $8 per month in actual water consumption at current rates. The other $12 of my bill is taxes and connectivity fees. The proposed fee of $21/month for a ¾” service line will effectively double my water bill per month with no visible benefit to me.
Every time we do something to be responsible, the government finds a way to punish us. Conserve fuel, they say, because it's a limited resource that pollutes the environment, and then when tax revenues decline they raise the gas taxes. Stop smoking and drinking to take better care of your health, they say, and when the sin tax revenues decline, they raise the rates on those who are still addicted. Conserve water and install water-smart landscaping, they say, and they implement a new fee. Conserve electricity, so we can pollute less, have more, and be green, and then they install digital meters so they can control how much you use and shut it off if you're drawing too much power when demand is high. Even when we do things to help ourselves, they don't like that. People grow their own food, and then they are criticized for not participating in commerce. People pay their bills, and then their neighbors get bailouts for mortgages they do not pay. Some stockpile lightbulbs, and they threaten to fine you for using them.
Some of the ideas are great in principle and poor in practice. What concerns me more than whether they are rational and logical is whether they are things the government can legally tell us to do. You see, there is a 15 page document in the Archives in Washington DC called the United States Constitution, which tells the government that it is a creation of the people and therefore may only do things the people allow it to do. The creature should never boast itself above its creator. Sure, we can vote for politicians, but then we're too stupid to make any other decisions for ourselves. Seriously?
Essentially, because some people misbehave (usually the people in positions of power), they have to punish the well-behaved. For all of our so-called altruistic rhetoric about shared sacrifice, the only thing most seem willing to share is the sacrifice of the best things for any of us if they cannot be true for all of us. Since some cannot be wise all the time, none of us are allowed to use any of our knowledge. General Small Town will plan out our whole life. He'll tell us where to work, what to eat, and whom to take to wife. Winning an election does not make you automatically a better person; it makes you a servant of the people, and I wish they would remember that and do things that help us rather than restrict us. That might incentivize good behavior.
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