you frightened me for a moment there vi.
let's not forget that the irs is backed by the full weight of the government and, should we need a reminder, we need only look to viet nam or afghanistan or iraq to see what a mess they can make of things. though for every citizen the government's collection agency stakes out for the vultures there are a hundred who live peacefully under their radar, the majority traipse blithely along under the slavery of the state's "tax as thou wilt" attitude. the law is enforced however they determine it should be interpreted and the will of the people has little or nothing to do with the matter.
the shell game is complete. we are misdirected by a thousand small movements in the foreground while, behind the actors, the chains are secured. we are given scenes of starving children and told that we must feed them. we are shown the sick and dying and convinced that we must heal them. we are faced with a scarred landscape and persuaded that we must sacrifice to assure the survival of our planet. the we, of course, can't include those with any true power, only those over whom they have gained control. should the powerful, for a moment, have to bear some small cost, that price is so easily handed down to those who's self-determination the powerful have usurped. for each new sin our pockets are picked and the state's coffers grow fatter while our dinner grows more meager. slavery need not be a physical action or a social phenomenon, its basis is found in economic bondage. the true slave owns less and less until he doesn't even own himself.
of course we are given a scapegoat from time to time. the criminal rich or the idle poor, the communist and the anarchist, the religious right then the secular left, the smokers, the drinkers, the fornicators and the fooles. each in turn are pilloried for the edification of the masses. of course we are kept amused. the trickle of valid information in the nightly news is followed by the antics of will and grace, the latest give-aways to prove you can get something for nothing and the most recent slices of some false reality. we are regaled at every turn with the wisdom of our beneficent leader. the fathers and mothers we employ to conduct us toward our destiny, but who are more interested in retarding our development and maintaining us in our perpetual childhood.
the citizenry is lulled into believing that they have some control over the bureaucracy that enslaves them. "but, the law will keep us safe from such tyranny" they cry, as their elected representatives and appointed judges decide for themselves how best to ladle out those few freedoms they decide we should keep. charlatans label themselves to please the masses and gain access to the halls of power, then don the robes of caesar and rule as petty gods. they quash all hope of revolution, branding any participants as enemies and traitors, then calm the roiled population with platitudes and the promise of some future immediate gratification (no, the paradox is not unintentional).
so, is it all some grand conspiracy? doubtful; when the very nature of power is to exceed its own scope, conspiracy is unnecessary. our preoccupation with the means to power only further ensures our slavery and our divisions over which lie best suits our immediate need are the nails that seal the coffin. we squabble over the leavings of power, managing to rescue a cheeseburger with fries and deluding ourselves into imagining that we have "gotten it our way". if you want freedom you must fight for it. your weapons are puny compared to the enemy's so you must starve him out, withholding from him the means to enslave you.
the preceding was brought to you by those who are, most likely, soon to be "detained for questioning". we now return you to your regularly scheduled programing. i think it's the lost episodes of CHiPs.
(that smiley face is actually me waving.....) 
