"Refusing to Do Business with the Government:" A Letter to the Editor

My own grounds for refusing to do business with gov't have rested for some time on a few simple (and painful) realizations:

1) While government is only an artificial, make-believe entity, as an institution or method of organizing human behavior it is wildly corrupt. It provides a fertile soil in which the most evil and spiritually sick human tendencies undeniably flourish, even perverting and mocking many virtues otherwise held to be praiseworthy. For example, the political atmosphere in America has become so cynical and surreal that people are far less troubled by the steady stream of politicians' lies than by the horrifying possibility that those delusional puppets may actually believe the garbage coming out of their mouths.

2) At least in our current society, the misguided traditions, provably false rumors, and outright lies about gov't (its supposed "authority", purposes and alleged benefits) are so abundant and so toxic that I do not need a ready or feasible substitute to the existing socio-political system in order to know that I must divorce myself from the current one and live as a free and responsible individual man -- in spite of the serious risks and considerable inconveniences involved. (Hence, the old saying, "It's dangerous to be right when the government is wrong.")

3) I enjoy a calm, confident assurance that I am neither crazy, nor extreme, nor close-minded. My assurance is strengthened on a daily basis by people from all walks of life -- government, business, religion, activism, the Media, neighbors, friends and even family -- who time and again prove to me my own sanity, reasonableness and open-mindedness (and, yes, even correctness). How do they accomplish this? Public figures and recognized authorities can be counted on to build my confidence by the haughty, yet clearly jittery contempt with which they dismiss my questions and flatly refuse to provide the kinds of forthright, intelligible answers appropriate to their job descriptions. Others, such as enjoyable business acquaintances, good friends and even family regularly solidify my assurance (and my heartburn) by the dysfunction and denial they exhibit in refusing to even have a look at information and ideas that go to the very heart of everything they claim to hold dear. There is talk about Cognitive Dissonance and its effects. I believe there is something to it. I believe I have experienced it, wrestled with it and overcome it in some areas of my life. I do not know how much of a role Cognitive Dissonance plays in the condition of the society in which I find myself; but I do know this: there is a great deal of wrong being done by and through people who are refusing to address it, to talk about it, to answer for it. I have done the best I could to research my concerns, to present and discuss them, and to obtain answers from the people who should have and provide such answers. The silence, denial, defensiveness and aggression exhibited by people in this society (especially its so-called leaders) has the smell of a deep and ugly guilt -- something either very wrong or very sick. Either way my conscience will not allow me to do business with it. In light of this, I will seek to learn, to improve myself and to do as much good in my daily pursuits as possible -- setting the very best example of human behavior that I can -- while steadfastly avoiding in a prudent manner all contact with that which I simply believe to be wrong. I will rely upon yet another calm, confident assurance: namely, that my Creator will bless my efforts to this end.

Thank you, Carl, for the very helpful and enlightening information you have provided, and for being willing to help me understand and grow.

Harold Thomas