13 sats \ 6 replies \ @sancristrader 29 Apr \ parent \ on: Taxes or Inflation? econ
they do, but nobody pays them.
Tourists do, or at least I did.
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not if you go to a cash-only taqueria for example
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I'll keep that in mind for my next visit.
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I'm libertarian but I moderated my libertarianism after hanging out in Central America for almost 3 years. For example, between Guatemala and Nicaragua, I did not encounter a single traffic police officer nor any sign of enforcement of any traffic rules, while I saw multiple gore road fatalities and road rage incidents. After making some friends in Guatemala, including wealthy people, I realized that non traffic laws are also enforced on an extremely limited basis because the government simply doesn't have the resources or capacity to enforce anything.
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I'm guessing they don't allow any competing forms of governance, though: i.e. privatized roads with their own enforcement or private communities with their own rules and security forces.
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I know private security is very well developed in Guatemala: every serious bank, jewelry store, mall has it. Private roads are probably not allowed, but I actually met a wealthy woman whose family founded the first intercity bus company in Guatemala in the 1920s and she told me how her great grandfather helped to build the roads.
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