Government started out as a banding together for common defense. Very useful when the Vikings pull into your seaside village in their longboats. I took an econ. course once that described the rise of government and it's clear the shift occurred when instead of having to fight for your lord for X months of the year, you could pay off your debt of service with provisions or gold.
Once taxation began, it tended to ratchet up until rebellions happened. I can't recall a society that didn't snowball. When the revenue starts flowing, it all gets spent and the temptation is to raise taxes, not cut expenditures in almost every society that ever collected taxes. The US is a perfect example - we were born out of a hatred of increasing English taxation.
Smart meters have been shown to have an enormous potential to cut down on electrical consumption. But that feature, I assume, is at the bottom of the list for the companies implementing them. To them, it represents a cost savings (fewer meter readers) and a way to exert greater control remotely.
-- Bobby G.