Minimalists can learn a lot about future trends by studying the collective mindset.
The collective mind is pervasive today and thus we should listen closely to it [see photo].
One thing the collective mind is warning us all about is the future trend to greater and greater taxation, fines, and government charges.
A recent example is the suggestion that people who now work from home should be made to pay a 5% levy on their income tax bill. The collective mindset foreshadows this tax because those who "work from home" have so many economic advantages over those who still commute to an office. And they also argue that these workers must pay this levy because the "tax take" from the businesses and service providers who would otherwise serve you and your office workmates.
Another example is the recent suggestion that people in San Francisco be banned from smoking inside their own houses. Those who do not comply will be fined $US 1,000 for the breach of these new government rules. This will be a "bad behaviour" tax and it will not be the only one.
For the moment, the final example is that the collective mindset wants to move away from fossil fuels in favour of renewable sources of energy. The tax here will be levied by price inflation for consumers of electricity and the like. Also there will be outages and interruptions to base-load supplies of all forms of energy cities, towns, and villages around the globe. Added to this impost will be taxes that will be imposed on individuals to pay for the government subsidies to the renewable energy industries.
The collective mindset is informing us that we must prepare ourselves as individuals for a tax regime that will be mandated because of ideological wants not individual needs.
Richard.
Comments