Now i shall elaborate.
Part 1 is a case example of my town, Vallus Rex.
Vallus rex is small, just started out, has only three residents and is mostly un-built but it has a foundation. Currently its priorities are building the town and getting money to claim more plots.
The three residents are myself, the castellan, and itzzaboy.
Cast spends most of his town rping(hes baus), but he hardly owns a penny to his name. Sure, voting isnt much for him to do, but his taxation makes him less likely to help the town expand rather than grow.
Im not sure what itzza spends his time doing, but he doesnt get much money, and he is planning his own town currently. Hes staying in mine and helping out until hes ready. The tax not only makes it harder for him to help my town expand, it also makes it harder for him to start the one he is planning.
Lastly, i spend all of my time building Vallus Rex or getting materials and money to expand it with. The tax isnt that much, but every single day my coffers drop 600, money that would have gone to claiming more plots. Also, castellan and itzzaboy may often forget to deposit money, or they may be on holiday, or not be able to get on, and then that extra money has to come free either my pocket or from the coffers. If i add a tax to do it automatically, then castellan may be in trouble if he ever has to go on vacation, or is unable to get on. He has so little money already that he will have to be very careful to vote everday lest he find himself a hobo. Essentially these taxes make it harder for new towns to grow, and will cause many existing towns to shrink.
And to what cause?
Part 2 is an explanation of taxation.
In real life, in this day and age, there are many reasons for taxes. However, first and foremost among them is that taxes are the money the government runs on. The government must have that money, because if the road business isnt fed money, the roads will fall into disrepair. If the construction companies arnt paid then public buildings, schools, bridges, public services will all collapse. The reason is that in the real world, things require actual "upkeep" If the roads arnt repaved for ten years they will be all but useless. If the bridges arnt kept up, they will fall down. In the real world, resources must be expended in order to keep things the way they are.
However in Minecraft, things dont work that way. I dont need to expend resources to keep things the way they are. In minecraft if i build something then it will be the exact same way five years later assuming im not griefed. Taxes wont keep up roads and buildings and bridges, because roads and buildings and bridges dont need to be kept up. If i neglect my builds they wont collapse, they will remain exactly the same. Therefore the reason for the tax can be limited only to realism, incentive to vote, and knocking inactive players from towns.
1. Realism. Sure, taxation may provide a tad bit more realism to the game, but people hate taxes in real life, what makes them fun in Minecraft? Realism while roleplaying is good, to an extent, but it gets to a point where being real in a non-real situation only makes it less fun. Its a bloody good thing you dont have to drink water or continue to breathe to survive in minecraft. Furthermore minecraft has the limitation of the lack of real time communication. Chat communication is slow and cumbersome, and it lacks ability to use nuances, sarcasm etc etc. The point being that realism for the sake of realism is a bad thing. The whole point of minecraft is that its unlimited. You are no longer subject to the restrictions of the real world, you can go build anything and be anyone. Minecraft is meant to be without restrictions. If thats the point of the game, then why should we impose restrictions on ourselves?
2. Voting. Personally i think everyone should be voting as much as they can, this place is amazing. Ive been on other servers and other forums, believe me, this place is one of a kind. But there are those that disagree with me. There are those who think this is just like any other server, and there are those who even dont like it. Naturally, they wouldnt vote for us. And now that we say that the tax is only a problem for those who dont vote, then it further ostracizes those few and makes them more angry/neutral. Also, voting is something thats very easy to forget, and many people go on vacations and holidays, some have limited access to computers or internet, some take long breaks, and some just dont get on much. These players will have to be extremely careful to make sure they dont accidentaly end up homeless.
3. Kicking Inactives from towns. This is the only beneficial aspect to the tax, but the tax as enough negative effects that i think it would be prudent to find another solution, even if its just leaving it up to mayors.
In conclusion, i would like to reiterate some points. The tax in this game is pointless, as the reason there is a tax in real life is not applicable to minecraft nor should it be. The tax is then forcing players to expend resources to change nothing. I feel like thats against the point. People should never have to put forth effort or expend resources, only to have the fruits of their labor taken away for no reason. Taxes in real life at least serve the purpose of giving back to those who are taxed, in the form of public services, public buildings, etc etc. This tax, however, is essentially the same as forcing everyone to go throw a diamond in lava. It serves no purpose, only then to root out those who dont do it.