[muawiyah]

no, those institutions were ALL PRIVATE. Charity and education were obligations individuals met ~ there were no public school systems, and at most any sort of king's charity would go to repairing docks and roads ~ the ancients clearly differentiated between the private sphere and that of the government. Their noble classes simply didn't think of themselves as an insurer of last resort.

Taxes went for the care and upkeep of the royal family, the nobility and the army.

[1010RD]

Yes, they were all private and therefore paid from from post-tax funds. Therefore they were all taxed and they all existed. You’re comparing two different systems. Ours is broken. We need to tax non-profits because the pain must be shared. If churches can sit on the sidelines they’ll benefit from our pain. If urban black pastors had to pay taxes on their church earnings and RE holdings do you think they’d be Democrats?

Where do you live?