Essay:Cooperation with the government

Cooperation with the government is deemed by statists and their lackeys to be a virtue. Those who fail to cooperate are deemed to be self-destructive, antisocial knaves. Supposedly, if no one resisted the government or tried to get away with disobeying it, life would be easier for everyone because relations would be more harmonious. What is often forgotten is that this would mean no more Henry David Thoreaus, Harriet Tubmans, Mohandas Gandhis, Claudette Colvins, Rosa Parks, Martin Luther Kings, Julian Heicklens, Ehren Watadas, and so on. In other words, there would no more people putting conscience ahead of statutory law. One might well ask, "Must the citizen ever for a moment, or in the least degree, resign his conscience to the legislator? Why has every man a conscience, then?"