Apologies, I may not have been clear enough in my formulation there. I meant the social contract, as in: You pay taxes and get something in return. For some people it may also be something like 'you work hard and therefore get to live a reasonably comfortable life'. The social contract, for me, is simply about making sure everyone plays by the same rules.

Socialism is a completely different topic. I wouldn't even know how to define it, considering how many wildly different definitions of it there are. I think the regulated markets, like Germany and Scandinavian countries have a nice model, but even the crazy American model would be fine, if the rules were the same for everyone.

Again, I was not talking about socialism or how to fund it.

By the way, you mentioned that this consumption tax is not how you fund socialism. How do you fund socialism? I'd be very interested to hear your perspective :)