But can you imagine what would happen if we allowed poor people to get out of it so easily? Everybody has a run-in with the law at some point and it serves to e

But can you imagine what would happen if we allowed poor people to get out of it so easily? Everybody has a run-in with the law at some point and it serves to enforce social order. The rich pay a law tax and the poor are prevented from moving to a higher class. I mean, can you imagine how horrifying it would be to have all those poor people mingling in with us of noble birth? Awful, just awful. The system is a bit inefficient, I'll grant you that. Maybe when you turn 18 you pay half a million or get an automatic felony. You would have broken the law anyway... p.s. </sarcasm>