The United States claims to be a nation of freedom and democracy, yet it operates as a system of control and exploitation. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the way it punishes its citizens for minor infractions while failing to provide even the most basic necessities of life. As Michael Jackson so bluntly put it: They don’t care about us.
The idea that America is a free nation is a myth. Fines, fees, and penalties for petty infractions are nothing more than a hidden tax—one imposed without consent, without fair representation, and without any effort to improve the lives of those being drained. The government extracts money from its citizens under the guise of “law and order,” yet where does that money go? Does it go toward fixing our broken roads, ensuring affordable housing, or providing healthcare? No. Instead, it funds a bloated bureaucracy that serves only to maintain its own power.
If this were truly a just system, we would have a say in how our money is used. But in reality, we have no choice. We are expected to pay into a corrupt system that fails to represent us, punishes us for simply trying to survive, and offers nothing in return. That is the very definition of taxation without representation.
Think I'm exaggerating? Take a look at the voter-approved $30 car-tab inititive that was struck down by the Washington Supreme Court in 2020.
It is barbaric that a government incapable of providing its people with healthcare, fair wages, or even accountability for its corrupt politicians has the audacity to micromanage its citizens’ lives. They ignore the suffering of the working class, yet they’re quick to penalize the smallest mistake. You miss a stop sign? Here’s a fine. You drive five miles over the limit? Pay up. But when banks commit fraud, when corporations poison water supplies, when politicians lie, cheat, and steal—where are the consequences? Where are the fines? Where are the punishments?
Justice in America is not about fairness. It is about power. The government has no interest in actually protecting people—it only seeks to control them.
It is personally horrifying to watch this system literally kill my family while we stand by, not knowing what to do. We see our loved ones deteriorate, unable to get proper care, unable to afford life-saving treatment, while the government does nothing. And then, while we are still grieving—still paralyzed by trauma and the impossible conditions of our own lives—the system has the audacity to ask us for money. They fine us, ticket us, demand payments we can’t afford, all while we are locked in survival mode, barely holding on.
How do they expect people to function when they are already drowning? How do they justify punishing those who have already lost everything? This isn’t justice. It’s cruelty.
The legal system does not exist to ensure public safety—it exists to generate revenue. Every ticket written, every fine imposed, every penalty enforced is another dollar extracted from the people who can least afford it. Meanwhile, the rich and powerful break laws with impunity, shielded from consequences by the very system that claims to be just.
It is time to recognize this system for what it is: a barbaric, unjust, exploitative machine designed to strip wealth from the poor while protecting the powerful.
If America cannot provide its people with the most basic human rights—affordable healthcare, fair wages, true political representation—then it has no moral authority to police minor infractions and extract wealth through fines. The people should not tolerate a system that punishes them while refusing to be held accountable itself.
Justice should be about fairness, not profit. It is time to reject a system that operates as a glorified debt collection agency for the state. If they won’t take care of us, then they have no right to judge us.