They do pay, they just get more back out. In a country without any redistribution of wealth and a perfectly efficient government everyone would be a net zero co

They do pay, they just get more back out. In a country without any redistribution of wealth and a perfectly efficient government everyone would be a net zero contributor to the government. In practice most countries have a few hubs where most of the wealth is created (typically coastal cities), and the taxes collected there fund the rest in the form of redistribution of wealth.