[monday]

"Doesn't the Mafia do similar things? Buy my fire insurance so you won't have a fire........"

At their heart, all governments are protection rackets. Pay up or suffer the consequences.

Russia lowered it's taxes a few years ago, not to encourage investment and stimulate the economy, but because the actual mafia was taking so much money the government mafia was left without any. Unfortunately for them, most businesses still cannot afford to pay the mafia and their taxes both, so they don't pay taxes. Thats why no one wants to do business in Russia.

One can easily judge the amount of corruption in a given government by measuring the amount of tariffs charged. Tariffs are rewards to corrupt business's that have paid off politicians in exchange for those politicians eliminating their business competition. The US government is, sadly, as corrupt as they come.

[Red Badger]

So, we are all prawns of the government..........