It occurs to me that governments only do one thing well: steal money from taxpayers. The video of the man dumping all the recycle bins while still fining people for not recycling got me thinking about the money involved. I’m pretty sure these fines are a lot like speeding fines: they add revenue to the city’s coffers. The city doesn’t give a shit about recycling, but the money in fines? Then I got thinking about bottle/can deposit escheatment rates. That is, the rate of non redemption. Guess where the money goes when you don’t return your bottles and cans? Yea, that was a rhetorical question: we all know. So I looked up the rates of escheatment. At a minimum, it can be as low as 25% and as high as 50%. Wow, that’s a lot of money. Keep in mind that not all bottle/can deposits are five cents. Often it’s ten cents or maybe higher. Tell me that bottle/can deposits are about recycling. I’d say states don’t give one damn about recycling bottles and cans, but really just want the money. Then we have red light cameras, speed enforcement cameras, traffic fines. Explain how these are about safety? One of my favorite fines are parking fines. Then there are animal enforcement, property fines, expired registrations and inspections. The list is much longer, but you get my point. So, if we want to hurt city revenue, start returning all your bottles and cans and obey traffic laws as much as you are willing to.