SIN TAXES

      The amount of pens I find cleaning up at work almost offends me. It's so wasteful, all that plastic and unused ink. When was the last time you used a pen up? I know I've done it, but it takes a long time unless you're writing a lot. But there's no incentive to use up pens; no incentive to make sure you don't lose them. A package of ten at work sells for $2.49 (plus tax) so basically, 25¢ a pen. That's practically nothing and inflation shows it. 25¢ is the penny of the modern age.

      Sometimes I think items like pens, pencils, paper, staples, paper clips, etc....all things which are available cheaply and in what seems to be endless supply, should have artificially inflated prices to discourage waste. There are taxes on gasoline ostensibly to maintain roads, taxes on cigarettes and alcohol (ostensibly) to cover the costs of the health associated with their abuse, etc. so why not a comparable sin tax on items which have become ridiculously cheap and use that money to let's say, fund education or job retraining since I've only named school/office supplies. Actually I'll go with job retraining given how quickly the job market has been evolving in the past thirty years.

      Nothing obscene but given their cost, even if they were all sin-taxed 100%, thus doubling their prices, the aforementioned items would still be quite affordable and it may have the added benefit of people not wasting what they have and making sure people displaced by the ever-changing job market have a means to remain competitive.