You bring up some good points here. I think taxes would be more widely accepted and effective if people were given some control over where their taxes went. Like if a person could decide to give 10% to this area and 30% to that area, I think not only would people be more amenable to the taxes, but performance would improve.
Yes, but then that means a lot of transparency which will come into picture and accountability, which will never be accepted by governments. Actually it is such a good idea. You get paid for what you will give to us.