Firefighers watched a family house burn down because they didn't pay for service • fscked.co.uk

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Firefighers watched a family house burn down because they didn’t pay for service

As the Cranicks fled their home, their neighbors alerted the county’s firefighters, who soon arrived at the scene. Yet when the firefighters arrived, they refused to put out the fire, saying that the family failed to pay the [$75] annual subscription fee to the fire department. Because the county’s fire services for rural residences is based on household subscription fees, the firefighters, fully equipped to help the Cranicks, stood by and watched as the home burned to the ground.

Two things. Firstly, if we start charging for government services with this degree of granularity, where does it end? Is my road maintenance tax calculated based on how far I drive? Do I pay for police service in one lump, or do we split it into petty and serious crime? Can I choose to have only non-compostable rubbish collected?

How many civil servants will be needed to calculate and collect these complex invoices?

Secondly, imagine the fire department is further required to run at a profit from their $75 fees, as a good right-leaning capitalist would demand in order to ensure the department is incentivised to run efficiently. Now, they are also incentivised to ensure they have plenty of demand for their services to keep their prices high.

By setting things on fire.