As for example via what are styled in the typically clumsy argot of bureaucracy High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes.

HOV lanes are lanes you're not allowed to use – unless you meet certain criteria set forth by the owner of the roads, which of course is not you. Even though you are the one who pays for them.

We'll get to that in a minute.

HOV lanes are set aside for people who have passengers – usually at least one (HOV2) and in some cases, two (HOV3). The idea here is to "encourage" people to carpool so as to reduce congestion by reducing the number of vehicles on the road. The word is italicized to make the point that the usage in this context is of a piece with being "asked" to "contribute" to Social Security.

In that you are being told.

In the case of HOV lanes, if you drive on them with just you in the vehicle, you risk being told by an armed government worker to "pull over." Whereupon you will be handed an extortion note demanding the payment of a "fine" for using the road you paid for.

Which brings us back to that.

The people who are not allowed to use HOV lanes got to pay for them. They did – and do so – every time they buy gasoline or diesel, to the tune of at least 50 cents per gallon and in some states a great deal more than that. Those motor fuels taxes added to the cost of every gallon of gas or diesel are the cost drivers pay to build and maintain the roads.

So how come they are not permitted to use them, if they do not have more than just themselves inside the vehicle? Go back to that part about the government owning the roads. Some will dispute this characterization. They will say the roads are public roads. This is of course Stockholm Syndrome nonsense. It is of a piece with the truly pathetic insistence made by a person pulled over by an armed government worker that I pay your salary!