From Sharp Kangaroo, 11 Years ago, written in Plain Text.
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  1. Cultural norms of the mainstream society and most of its subcultures reward pro-state behavior while they punish non-state behavior. While this is not yet true for all parts of the cultural code, it is increasing, often without us noticing it.
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  3. There are numerous examples for this. The method most often suggested for problem-solving is to call the police, to always obey the state authority, to use "convenient" methods of payment (credit cards etc.), to make every payment in official legal tender (national currency), get a "good job", petition your "representatives", "work within the system", pay your "fair share" of taxes, adhere to the current definition of "political correctness" or simply to "not make trouble." All of these codes of conduct focus on a single goal: To integrate into a society that is led, organized and enabled by the state. Alternative views are quickly labeled "a waste of time", "not practical", "unrealistic", "utopian", "eccentric" or even "treasonous."
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  5. Interwoven with these codes are values that most people are accustomed to use when judging their neighbors. While many soldiers today partake in wars that should realistically be called unjust and therefore a crime, they are not met with disgust for choosing this career. Policemen that enforce unethical laws (often with unethical methods) are not excluded from our comradeship, but instead called "our finest." Tax collectors that objectively conduct armed robbery are not called out but identified as "doing their job." In the end, everyone is just following orders.
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  7. In addition, a wide variety of symbols are used to identify people as being "respectable." Some of these are: styles of clothing, status symbols, licenses, membership cards, use of language and laughing at the right time.
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  9. Together, these codes, values and symbols form societal expectations and identities - the function of culture - and any fundamental variation from them is met with rejection or even outright hostility.
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  11. It is very important to understand that these codes, values and symbols are highly interconnected and form an integrated body of culture which makes it very hard to successfully break out of this scheme. If we change only parts of it, it is easy to be dragged back into "the old ways" by many parts that are still tied to the larger culture. (Ideally this need not be so, but as a practical matter, it usually is.)
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  13. However, breaking away from mainstream culture and its various subcultures leaves the dissenter as a tolerated eccentric at best, or an unwanted troublemaker at worst. But it also puts the individual in the position of having no social integration... which is required by most of us simply for mental survival.