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“The biggest headache is the one the Chancellor has every year. Commerce means money, and money means more commerce, which means more money. Sales tax is a tax on purchases, so the Chancellor wants you to make stuff that people want to buy. That’s why she’s so keen to emphasise the importance of going out and doing some good in the world. The Chancellor doesn’t want any freeloaders in Wolfland.”
“Using charts and tables, she has to second guess the employment needs of the Garrison and the Highways Agency, along with the Chamber itself. These public sector bodies are employers, so they pay Work Impost too.
That means that some of the general taxes which are collected by the civil service actually go into the civil service budget and back out into the education pot. And that pot is divided up among all the schools according to how big they are. The Purser at each school then has to work out how to budget for teachers’ wages, and everything else that a school needs.”
“What do you want out of life?”
“What do you want, do you really, really want?”
Mr Rafone knows the answer already. The class doesn’t disappoint. Without responding to him directly there’s a distinct, collective and audible, “I dunno”.
“I dunno is the most common answer,” he says, “at heart, we’re all still cavemen. We want to protect the tribe, and we want to survive. And simple survival at a basic, existential level is not particularly satisfying. We want a bit more to life than that.”
“What do you want, do you really, really want?”
“A decent standard of living, and complete peace of mind.”
“Am I wrong?”
“In any case,” Mr Rafone concludes, “you want a job.”
“You either work or die!”
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