Taxed, Trapped, and Tired: Why I No Longer Trust the System Meant to Serve Us

“You are not imagining it. The system is rigged. And it is not broken—it is working exactly as intended.”

— Naomi Klein

There are days I feel like I’m constantly working just to survive. Not to thrive. Not to rest. Not to build a beautiful life. Just to barely hold everything together.

And when I ask myself why, the answer always leads back to the same tangled web:

Capitalism. Taxes. A bloated government. Misdirected regulation. Censorship. And a system that seems far more interested in controlling us than caring for us.

So I want to unpack all of it. Not with anger for the sake of rage, but with clarity. With examples. With truth. Because I don’t think I’m alone in this.

Capitalism: What It Is and Why It Feels Like a Scam

Capitalism is often sold to us as a system of freedom—where anyone can succeed if they work hard enough. But in reality, it tends to reward ownership over effort, and extraction over empathy.

• The ultra-wealthy hoard billions while others go hungry.

Even in times of crisis, billionaires increase their wealth while everyday families struggle to afford groceries or medicine. This isn’t a bug in the system. It’s the feature.

• Housing, food, and healthcare are sold like luxury items.

Survival is conditional on your income. If you can’t afford to live well, you’re told it’s your fault for not working harder.

• Workers are used up and discarded.

Loyalty doesn’t matter. Human needs don’t matter. The second you become inconvenient—pregnant, sick, injured—you’re replaceable.

• You’re forced to constantly prove your worth.

Whether it’s through resumes, coverage applications, or productivity metrics, even basic rights are something you must earn under capitalism.

And if you want proof the system is rigged, just look at who it benefits:

The richest 1% now own more than the bottom 90%. That’s not innovation. That’s institutionalized greed.

The Tax Trap: When Is Enough Enough?

We aren’t taxed once. We’re taxed constantly, and few people realize how often it happens.

• Income tax is taken before your check even reaches your hands.

• Payroll taxes go toward programs like Social Security that may not be fully funded when we need them.

• Sales tax is applied on everything you buy—with money that was already taxed.

• Property tax charges you yearly for owning a home you already paid for.

• Gas, tolls, registration fees, and hidden taxes all pile on.

You don’t just get taxed on what you earn—you get taxed again on how you live. And worst of all?

• You have no say in where it goes.

The money we give fuels corporate bailouts, endless wars, and government waste—but not free childcare, food assistance, or student loan relief. We’re told it’s “patriotic” to pay taxes, but we’re never asked what we actually want them used for.

The Tax Filing Scam: They Know the Answer but Still Make You Guess

Filing taxes in the U.S. is one of the greatest government gaslights.

• The government already knows how much you owe.

They have all your W-2s and reporting. But they make you do the math, and if you mess up, you’re penalized.

• If you overpay? They keep it. If you underpay? You get audited.

Either way, the system wins—and you lose.

• Other countries don’t do this.

In places like Estonia and Denmark, taxes are automatically calculated and pre-filled. You just review and approve. Done.

So why not here? Because companies like TurboTax lobby to keep it confusing. The complexity isn’t necessary. It’s profitable.

What If We Could Choose? Participatory Budgeting Is Already Real

Imagine if you got to choose how your taxes were used—if you could check a box for healthcare, education, or climate action, and uncheck military expansion or corporate subsidies.

That idea isn’t a fantasy. It’s called Participatory Budgeting, and it’s happening right now in:

• Porto Alegre, Brazil

• New York City

• Seattle

• Paris and Madrid

When communities get a say, they fund schools, public health, mental care, and local sustainability—not bloated defense budgets.

We need a national version of this. But it threatens the status quo, so it’s kept small, local, and largely unknown.

What Should Be Free? (And Already Is Elsewhere)

Housing. Healthcare. Education. Food access. These shouldn’t be luxuries. They’re rights in many other countries.

• In Norway, parents get nearly a year of paid parental leave, and healthcare is fully covered.

• Finland offers free college, free lunches, and no standardized testing.

• France gives five weeks of paid vacation per year and has universal healthcare.

• In Canada, you won’t go bankrupt from breaking your leg.

• Japan has high-quality universal care and long life expectancy.

Yes, they pay taxes—but they get something in return. In the U.S., we pay more for worse outcomes. That’s not freedom. That’s exploitation.

Big Government vs Bloated Control

I don’t believe in a government that micromanages our lives—but what we have now is even worse:

• Too big where it shouldn’t be.

Surveillance. Bureaucracy. Censorship. Military buildup.

• Too small where it should be.

Mental health support. Accessible healthcare. Education funding.

I believe people have the right to defend themselves responsibly. If someone meets safety standards, they should have access to arms. What I don’t believe in is a government that militarizes its police while making basic self-defense inaccessible for law-abiding citizens.

We need less control, more care.

Over regulating the Wrong Things, Ignoring What Matters

We spend so much time regulating meaningless things—meanwhile, what we put in and on our bodies is full of toxins:

• Supplements aren’t regulated, even though many of us rely on them due to soil depletion and low-nutrient foods.

• Skincare and cosmetics in the U.S. are full of chemicals banned in Europe.

• Artificial dyes and additives are still legal here but outlawed elsewhere.

We’re forced to research every label, every ingredient, every product—just to avoid health risks. Why is it legal to poison us, but illegal to sell raw milk or herbal remedies in some states?

A Failing Education System That Punishes Everyone

Our education system wasn’t built to educate. It was built to standardize.

• Teachers are underpaid and spend their own money to keep classrooms running.

• Advanced students are held back, bored and unstimulated.

• Struggling students are pushed forward, overwhelmed and unsupported.

• Neurodivergent students are crammed into one-size-fits-all classrooms, expected to function the same regardless of how their brains work.

“No Child Left Behind” doesn’t support children—it just pressures teachers to focus on tests over comprehension. It ignores the complex needs of real human students, and it’s failing all of them in different ways.

When Comfort Replaces Reality

We’ve entered a cultural phase where discomfort is treated like harm—and truth is treated like hate.

• We bend biology, rewrite language, and punish those who won’t conform to ideological trends.

• We teach that feeling offended is more important than understanding what’s real.

• Children are left confused, not supported—because we’re afraid to say what’s true.

You can be compassionate and still grounded in reality. Truth and kindness are not opposites. In fact, you can’t have one without the other.

Withholding the Truth: What Are They Hiding?

We fund NASA, the military, scientific research—and yet we know so little about what’s actually discovered.

• UFOs are acknowledged by the Pentagon—but we’re told little else.

• Space discoveries are buried in data or withheld.

• Pandemic origins, foreign activity, and climate data are hidden behind classified status or red tape.

• Science is privatized. Even public research is often locked behind academic paywalls or “proprietary” rights.

Why can’t we see the truth? Because secrecy protects power—not people.

So What’s the Alternative?

We don’t have to keep doing this.

• Social Democracies like Norway offer strong safety nets without suppressing free enterprise.

• Democratic Socialism values human need over corporate profit.

• Worker cooperatives create ownership and fair wages.

• Universal Basic Income gives everyone a floor to stand on.

• Resource-based economies center around sustainability, not overconsumption.

These are not fantasies. These exist. They work. And the only reason we don’t have them is because we keep choosing not to.

My Hope

I don’t want to live in a world where people must fight just to be seen, fed, healed, or housed.

I want a world where:

• We’re taxed fairly—and know where the money goes

• Our children are taught as individuals, not test scores

• The government doesn’t punish poverty but protects dignity

• Truth is transparent

• Support doesn’t come with shame

• People don’t burn out just trying to stay alive

That’s not laziness.

That’s not entitlement.

That’s humanity.

That’s dignity.

That’s possible.

“When injustice becomes law, resistance becomes duty.”

— Thomas Jefferson (commonly attributed)