I Do Not Trust 'Nudge' Policies

It seems that the times these government nudges
work for best are when corporations and shops
are forced to tax individuals for what they buy,
on behalf of governments that don't want the money
but they need to curb our consumptive habits.

The tax on individual plastic bags have done it's stuff,
and the reduction in how much sugar manufacturers
put in packaged foods is the gov't's next target;
reduce the sugar or make the public pay the tax
is the threat from government to manufacturers
who under threat have changed their recipes.

I can remember when citizens paid taxes
to governments in order to receive a public service,
e.g. policing, a health service, and education.

Now it seems all these things are semi-privatized
to give the maximum support to private ownership
at public expense, and public get the message;
indirect taxes are a stick for them to be beaten with,
which they are financially better off without.

And the best cheer comes through the vice
of their 'freedom of choice', as given to them
by the absolute oligarch who is farthest away.