Although mainstream economists couldn't accept Franz's decision to abolish the poll tax, it won the support of another group.
Most of them came from Britain, the United States, and Brazil. They were mostly abolitionists and liberals, along with a few philosophers.
The most prominent among them were John Stuart Mill, Henry David Thoreau, and Dornim.
John Stuart Mill was a famous British philosopher, psychologist, and economist. He was a liberal, but also supported utilitarianism.
Henry David Thoreau was an American writer, philosopher, and leading Transcendentalist. He was also an abolitionist and naturalist with anarchist leanings, and had once been arrested for opposing the poll tax.
Dornim was a Brazilian poet, reformer, politician, and abolitionist. He had once started a slave uprising on his own estate, only for his steward to crush it.
Although these people might have seemed somewhat unreliable, they actually had many forward-thinking ideas, and most of them sincerely wanted to change the state of the world.
They could serve as advisers. At the very least, they could provide examples of what not to do—and take the blame.
After the poll tax was abolished, the burden on ordinary people fell considerably. Some no longer had to pay any direct taxes at all.
With the poll tax gone, people no longer had to take it into account when having children. Given the customs and religious traditions of the time, they would surely have as many as they pleased.
After the new tax system was put in place, ordinary people gradually stopped fearing tax collectors and even became glad to pay their taxes. After all, the amounts were small, and paying them entitled people to benefits such as free compulsory education and regular free medical checkups.
At the same time, people became much more enthusiastic about reporting hidden assets. It