The Means of Vexation and Oppression

The situation of the inferior gentry, or Franklins, as they were called, who, by the law and spirit of the English constitution, were entitled to hold themselves independent of feudal tyranny, became now unusually precarious. If, as was most generally the case, they placed themselves under the protection of any of the petty kings in their vicinity, accepted of feudal offices in his household, or bound themselves by mutual treaties of alliance and protection to support him in his enterprises, they might indeed purchase temporary repose; but it must be with the sacrifice of that independence which was so dear to every English bosom, and at the certain hazard of being involved as a party in whatever rash expedition the ambition of their protector might lead him to undertake. On the other hand, such and so multiplied were the means of vexation and oppression possessed by the great Barons, that they never wanted the pretext, and seldom the will, to harass and pursue, even to the very edge of destruction, any of their less powerful neighbours who attempted to separate themselves from their authority, and to trust for their protection, during the dangers of the times, to their own inoffensive conduct, and to the laws of the land.
-Sir Walter Scott, Ivanhoe

Sound familiar? Nothing has changed except the technology of oppression. The "great Barons" of today still protect each other while they pretend to be enemies. They still use the Franklins at the EPA and the IRS to ride the backs of the common man. Minding one's own business–even minding the law–is no protection against thugs. They believe that, since they write the laws, they are free to ignore them whenever it suits. You cannot live through a single day without breaking some law, without tripping over one of the many blocks placed for that very purpose.