[rriepe]

Governments save all the time in various ways but that's not what I'm talking about when I say "absorb": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_Pension_Fund_of_Nor...

What they never do is "earn." You wouldn't use that verb for money I took under threat of force or imprisonment, right? So why would you use it here? Try "steal," "rob," or, if you're feeling particularly generous, "take."

As for where it's going: Into a hole in the ground? My argument is that governments are inherently inefficient, not that governments shouldn't exist.

Government is emergent. It has to exist. If you see someone having the "Should government exist?" debate they're probably an anarchist in high school. Or an HNer, I guess. It's not a serious intellectual discussion topic. Drop 10 people off on a deserted island and they'll have a government 30 minutes later. There's no "no government."