Today's governments are states ruling by legal coercion. There is another, unacknowledged "government" that works to govern our behavior peacefully, and it's usually called the free market. But to states, the market—whether free or otherwise—is the farm from which they extract wealth and distribute it according to their perceived needs. States are plundering gangs that wouldn't exist without something to plunder—a market. But can markets exist without states?

We might never know. States will not step aside—the setup is far too rewarding for those in charge. So, we watch as government runs off the rails in its drunken pursuit of power.

Given this arrangement, how is it possible states can maintain their grip on the minds of its captives? From the perspective of those under its thumb, it is an elaborate, interwoven mix of claims accepted as truths.

Let's touch on a few.

Captives view everything government does as the fruits of democracy, as if the world around them came into being by free choice at the polls. Democracy is how people believe they maintain their freedom. It's their check on state power.