I have always considered myself a moderate, albeit a passionate one. Yet my experience as a citizen, of my governments and their enforcer-agents, is one of threat, nuisance, and invasion. Agents do not protect me or most of the people I know from any harm by stopping actual, observable, specific crimes and threats against us. Not in the schoolyard, not in the workplace, not in the marketplace, not in the home. In my own experience, however limited, which is the only direct experience I have to go by, daily interaction with my government is dominated by the kind of dystopian lunacy illustrated in parts 1 and 2 of this article. And in those rare times of need, Agents arrive too late if they ever arrive; take reports if they do anything; and then leave. What else are they going to do? When my cousin’s house was broken into, the police interrupted the burglary—then drove off, allowing the burglars to come back and complete their crime. But what else could they have done?
Like most people, I’m what might casually be called “a law-abiding citizen.” Not perfect by any means. No better or worse than anybody else. I’m as liable as the next person to make mistakes, fail to think things through, cut corners, or even act out. But on balance, like most people, I have tried to obey the law except where and to the extent compliance is unconscionable. Since becoming a member of the bar, I have been obliged to, and have, made heightened, active efforts to follow the law as much as I can, even when it drives me mad. Sure, the government provides some services I value and use. A few of them are services the private sector couldn’t provide better. But mainly, overwhelmingly, I try to make a living, take care of my family, treat people fairly, take care of business, and live my own life productively. I pay my taxes, some of which pay for those government services I use. I don’t steal or hit people or vandalize property. I try to live according to my moral compass, and as a rule, as best I can tell, I do all right by myself and others. Not perfectly, but well enough.
I see most of the people around me, doing pretty much the same. Sometimes they make me mad. Sometimes I feel like they’ve done something unfair. Sometimes they’re a pain in neck. But mainly it seems like they’re focused on going about their own business, and when they do realize they’ve given offense or hurt somebody, most of them, most of the time, seem to want to address it.
So by any rational or moral system I can understand, the government should be leaving most of us alone most of the time. Yet my government is in my business and in my face, every day, from dawn to dusk, in every aspect of my life, with little or no justification. Necessarily, that means that police, code-enforcement officers, building inspectors, tax collectors, and every other variety of Agent is a problem to be avoided wherever possible. They don’t serve or protect us, because they can’t serve or protect us, because we’re already doing a lot better on our own, for ourselves and others, than any government could possibly force us to do with all the regulations and Agents in the world. In my experience, most of us, agent and citizen alike, are pretty clear about the fact that the agents are just there to enforce the rules, regardless of how they came about or who or what they might benefit.
For so long, I’ve just tried to get on with my life, tolerating government the same way a horse tolerates a tick. I’ve voted, found ways of living with the government, spoken my mind, and avoided adding to the injustice any more than taxes and policy forced me to. And with other compelling duties to discharge leaving me exhausted, this was enough to preserve my soul and human dignity. Even now, I could still put my head down, work hard, and live a comfortable little life despite my country’s paralyzed, corrupt, and ineffectual government.
But I believe people of conscience cannot avoid its call any longer. We can no longer separate the call of our hearts from the call of our duty. We should have listened before, when the call was quieter, more distant, less desperate, more remote. We should have acted more, when fighting for liberty was a matter of principle, not as it has become, a matter of necessity. We should have reckoned better, how much of ourselves was being eroded from us by the looming shadow of our government, before we found our backs to the wall.
I am listening now. Listen and heed it with me.
(first posted on Medium 5 January 2017)
