WHAT IS GOVERNMENT?
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SOURCE:  Great IRS Hoax, section 4.3.1

We’ll start off this section with a definition of government from Black’s Law Dictionary.  Note especially the definition of “Republican government”, which is the kind government we have here in America:

Government.  From the Latin gubernaculums.  Signifies the instrument, the helm, whereby the ship to which the state was compared, was guided on its course by the “gubernator” or helmsman, and in that view, the government is but an agency of the state, distinguished as it must be in accurate thought from its scheme and machinery of government.

In the United States, government consists of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches in addition to administrative agencies.  In a broader sense, includes the federal government and all its agencies and bureaus, state and county governments, and city and township governments.

The system of polity in a state; that form of fundamental rules and principles which a national or state is governed, or by which individual members of a body politic are to regulate their social actions.  A constitution, either written or unwritten, by which the rights and duties of citizens and public officers are prescribed and defined, as a monarchical government, a republican government, etc.  The machinery by which the sovereign power in a state expresses its will and exercises its functions; or the framework of political institutions, departments, and offices, by means of which the executive, judicial, legislative, and administrative business of the state is carried on.

The whole class or body of officeholders or functionaries considered in the aggregate, upon whom devolves the executive, judicial, legislative, and administrative business of the state.

In a colloquial sense, the United States or its representatives, considered as the prosecutor in a criminal action; as in the phrase, “the government objects to the witness.”

The regulation, restrain, supervision, or control which is exercised upon the individual members of an organized jural society by those invested with authority; or the act of exercising supreme political power or control.

See also De facto government; Federal government; Judiciary; Legislature; Seat of government.

Federal government.  The government of the United States of America, as distinguished from the governments of the several states.

Local government.  The government or administration of a particular locality, especially, the governmental authority of a municipal corporation, as a city or county, over its local and individual affairs, exercised in virtue of power delegated to it for that purpose by the general government of the state or nation.

Mixed government.  A form of government combining some of the features of two or all of the three primary forms, viz., monarchy, aristocracy, and democracy.

Republican government.  One in which the powers of sovereignty are vested in the people and are exercised by the people, either directly, or through representatives chosen by the people, to whom those powers are specially delegated.  In re Duncan, 139 U.S. 449, 11 S.Ct. 573, 36 L.Ed. 219; Minor v. Happersett, 88 U.S. (21 Wall.) 162, 22 L.Ed. 627.
[Black’s Law Dictionary Sixth Edition, p. 695]

The important term in the above definition is the term “state”, which is then precisely defined as follows in that same legal dictionary:

“State.  A people permanently occupying a fixed territory bound together by common-law habits and custom into one body politic exercising, through the medium of an organized government, independent sovereignty and control over all persons and things within its boundaries, capable of making war and peace and of entering into international relations with other communities of the globe.  United States v. Kusche, D.C.Cal., 56 F.Supp. 201 207, 208.  The organization of social life which exercises sovereign power in behalf of the people.  Delany v. Moralitis, C.C.A.Md., 136 F.2d 129, 130.  In its largest sense, a “state” is a body politic or a society of men.  Beagle v. Motor Vehicle Acc. Indemnification Corp., 44 Misc.2d 636, 254 N.Y.S.2d 763, 765.  A body of people occupying a definite territory and politically organized under one government.  State ex re. Maisano v. Mitchell, 155 Conn.  256, 231 A.2d 539, 542.  A territorial unit with a distinct general body of law.  Restatement, Second, Conflicts, §3.  Term may refer either to body politic of a nation (e.g. United States) or to an individual government unit of such nation (e.g. California).

[…]

The people of a state, in their collective capacity, considered as the party wronged by a criminal deed; the public; as in the title of a cause, “The State vs. A.B.”
[Black’s Law Dictionary, Sixth Edition, p. 1407]

In a Republican Form of Government, the “state” then, is the People both individually and collectively, who are the sovereigns, and they, not their public servants, govern themselves using laws that they mutually and individually consent to through their elected representatives.  The Declaration of Independence says “that to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed”.  That consent expresses itself in several ways:

  1. Pledging allegiance to the flag of our nation or state.
  2. Swearing an oath.  Jesus commanded us NOT to swear oaths in Matt. 5:33-37.
  3. Signing a government form containing a perjury statement that subjects us to the jurisdiction of that government.
  4. Signing a government form obligating us to do something.
  5. Voting for our elected representatives and then having them enact our laws (agreements) into positive law.
  6. Submitting ourselves to the jurisdiction of the court when there is litigation.  This includes entering a plea in a court of justice when accused of a crime.  Pleas must be consensual. Judges have a name for this process of consenting to the jurisdiction of the court.  It is called making an "appearance".  Most people don't even realize that they can physically appear in court without making an "appearance" as legally defined.

    appearance.  A coming into court as a party to a suit, either in person or by attorney, whether as plaintiff or defendant.  The formal proceeding by which a defendant submits himself to the jurisdiction of the court.  The voluntary submission to a court's jurisdiction.

    In civil actions the parties do not normally actually appear in person, but rather through their attorneys (who enter their appearance by filing written pleadings, or a formal written entry of appearance).  Also, at many stages of criminal proceedings, particularly involving minor offenses, the defendant's attorney appears on his behalf.  See e.g., Fed.R.Crim.P. 43.

    An appearance may be either general or special; the former is a simple and unqualified or unrestricted submission to the jurisdiction of the court, the latter is a submission to the jurisdiction for some specific purpose only, not for all the purposes of the suit.  A special appearance is for the purpose of testing or objecting to the sufficiency of service or the jurisdiction of the court over defendant without submitting to such jurisdiction; a general appearance is made where the defendant waives defects of service and submits to the jurisdiction of court.  Insurance Co. of North America v. Kunin, 175 Neb. 260, 121 N.W.2d 372, 375, 376.

  7. Sending our money to a public servant when they ask for it.
  8. Volunteering to serve in the military BEFORE we are drafted.
  9. By obeying the request of a public servant to do something.

Anything not consensual is therefore unjust and the Supreme Court describes it as a “despotism”. 

"It must be conceded that there are rights in every free government beyond the control of the State [or a covetous jury or majority of electors].  A government which recognized no such rights, which held the lives, liberty and property of its citizens, subject at all times to the disposition and unlimited control of even the most democratic depository of power, is after all a despotism.  It is true that it is a despotism of the many--of the majority, if you choose to call it so--but it is not the less a despotism."
[Loan Ass'n v. Topeka, 87 U.S. (20 Wall.) 655, 665 (1874)]

The purpose of our system of justice is exclusively to ensure that everything that happens in society is done only by consent, and to punish those:

  1. Who deprive others of life, liberty, or property without their consent.  Involuntary deprivation of any one of these three is an injury, whether or not there is a law that criminalizes the behavior.  The sole purpose law protects us by preventing such injury.
  2. Who compel people to do anything either through force, or fraud, or both.  That is why kidnapping, fraud, extortion, rape, and racketeering are all crimes.

Any good Republican government must ask for your individual consent in order to take your money or property through taxation or judicial process.  This is the requirement of the Fifth Amendment.  The U.S. Supreme Court explains it this way:

“That property which a man has honestly acquired he retains full control of, subject to these limitations: First, that he shall not use it to his neighbor's injury, and that does not mean that he must use it for his neighbor's benefit; second, that if he devotes it to a public use, he gives to the public a right to control that use; and third, that whenever the public needs require, the public may take it upon payment of due compensation.”
[Budd v. People of State of New York, 143 U.S. 517 (1892)]

There are only three types of governments in the context of “consent”:

  1. When the government is honest, it will ask for consent directly and thereby inform you that you and not them are in charge.  This was the de jure government our founders gave us.
  2. When the government is dishonest and deceptive and greedy and covetous of power and money but still at least a little democratic in form, it will do it so indirectly that you never even knew you gave consent.  In such a corrupted government those who expose the deception and tyranny of the process by which consent was fraudulently procured are then punished and persecuted.  This is the de facto government we have today: one that punishes those who expose the fraud and extortion that is the income tax and who also oppose any other type of government tyranny.
  3. If the government is completely tyrannical, such as a monarchy or dictatorship, it will completely disregard the will of the people and never ask them for permission or consent to do anything.  Sovereignty resides in the king or dictator and not the people under such a government.  This is the type of government we have within the federal zone or federal “United States”[1], where the people within it are ruled by people who do not live there, but instead by a Congress full of people who are alien to it and who came from states of the Union.

The surest evidence that we have good government is that it is continually asking for our consent in a very explicit way and always reminding us that we, and not them, are in charge!

“Remember the word that I said to you, "A servant is not greater than his master.' If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also.” 
[Jesus in John 15:20, Bible, NKJV]

When people get together and decide to give consent as a collective, they do so only through a written Constitution, which is a contract, or through enacted positive law.  The Supreme Court calls this “government by compact”:

“In Europe, the executive is synonymous with the sovereign power of a state…where it is too commonly acquired by force or fraud, or both…In America, however the case is widely different.  Our government is founded upon compact [consent expressed in a written contract called a Constitution or in positive law].  Sovereignty was, and is, in the people.”
[The Betsy, 3 (U.S.) Dall 6]

Note the above profound statement of the U.S. Supreme Court: “In Europe, the executive is synonymous with the sovereign power of a state…where it is too commonly acquired by force or fraud, or both.”  This is what happens when governments are created or choose to operate without the consent of the people they exist to serve: force or fraud.  This is also exactly what happens, for instance, in a pure democracy where the majority rules unconstrained by a bill of rights, but it can’t happen in a Republic.  The existence of force or fraud within any government, in fact, is the essence of tyranny.  The unlawful application of force or fraud is also precisely the same disease that now afflicts and corrupts our allegedly republican form of government, and which has thereby transformed it into a de facto socialist democracy which disrespects the Constitutional rights of individuals and abuses and enslaves its citizens in violation of the  Thirteenth Amendment.  This force or fraud is implemented mainly using deceptive definitions, vaguely written laws that are subject to misinterpretation, and collusion between the Judicial and the Executive Branches to in effect undermine the Constitution and consolidate all power into the hands of the Executive Branch of the government.  The tools that our treasonous politicians have used to effect this will be thoroughly documented and explained later in the book in section 6.1.

Here is the legal definition of “compact” to prove our point that the Constitution and all federal law written in furtherance to it are indeed a “compact”:

“Compact, n.   An agreement or contract between persons, nations, or states.  Commonly applied to working agreements between and among states concerning matters of mutual concern.  A contract between parties, which creates obligations and rights capable of being enforced and contemplated as such between the parties, in their distinct and independent characters.  A mutual consent of parties concerned respecting some property or right that is the object of the stipulation, or something that is to be done or forborne.  See also Compact clause; Confederacy; Interstate compact; Treaty.”
[Black’s Law Dictionary, Sixth Edition, p. 281]

Enacting a mutual agreement into “positive law” or ratifying a Constitution then, becomes the vehicle for expressing the fact that the People collectively agreed and consented to the law and to accept any adverse impact that law might have on their liberty.  Public servants and the bureaucracies they work within then, are just the apparatus or machinery that the sovereign People use for governing themselves by mutual consent.  As the definition of “government” at the beginning of this section shows, the apparatus and machinery of government is simply the “rudder” that steers the ship, but the Captain of the ship is the People both individually and collectively, not the President or the Supreme Court.  In a true Republican Form of Government, the REAL government is the people individually and collectively, and not their public servants.

We will now summarize the above analysis succinctly into a single terse definition of “government”, in the case of our Republican Form of Government mandated by Article 4, Section 4 of the U.S. Constitution.  This definition also includes the spiritual purposes for government, which we have ignored up to this point:

“Government.  The means by which the sovereigns, who are the People individually and collectively and  who are called the “state”, exercise their divine and natural right directly from God to consensually regulate and control and govern their own affairs so as to:

1. Protect each other from harm to their life, liberty, and property. See the last six commandments of the ten commandments found in Exodus 20:12-17.  The greatest protection of our liberties comes from a separation of powers within government, so that power cannot concentrate and produce tyranny.  This is the basis of having a Republican Form of Government and it is called the “Separation of Powers Doctrine” in the legal field.

2.  Provide the maximum liberty to every member of society.  In the legal realm, this is called “equal protection of the laws” and its purpose is to eliminate partiality in judgment.  The following scriptures from God’s Laws prohibit partiality in judgment: Exodus 23:3, Leviticus 19:15, Deut. 1:17, Deut. 10:17, Deut. 16:19, Job 13:10, Prov. 18:5, Prov. 24:23, Prov. 28:21, Romans 2:11, James 2:9, James 3:17.  The Declaration of Independence also says that all men are created equal and those who are equal cannot be discriminated against or have their liberty taken away because they are black, poor, disadvantaged, or a “nontaxpayer”.

3.  Honor their God and perfect their faith and salvation by obeying His sacred laws, and NO OTHER LAW.  See Ecclesiastes 12:13, which says that man’s sole purpose on earth is to fear God and keep His holy commandments.  James 2:14-26 also says that our faith is perfected by our works of obedience to a sovereign God and His laws, and that faith without works is dead faith.  Genesis 1:28 also identifies the source of ALL of our delegated authority to govern ourselves, which is God Himself.  Here, in fact, is what God says on this very subject of writing laws that conflict with God’s laws:

But to the wicked, God says:

“What right have you to declare My statutes [write man’s vain law], or take My covenant [the Bible] in your mouth, seeing you hate instruction and cast My words behind you?  When you saw a thief, you consented with him, and have been a partaker with adulterers.  You give your mouth to evil, and your tongue frames deceit.  You sit and speak against your brother; you slander your own mother’s son.  These things you have done, and I kept silent; you thought that I was altogether like you; but I will reprove you, and set them in order before your eyes.  Now consider this, you who forget God, lest I tear you in pieces, and there be none to deliver: Whoever offers praise glorifies Me; and to him who orders his conduct aright [and bases it on God’s laws] I will show the salvation of God.”

[Psalms 50:16-23, Bible, NKJV]

In satisfying the above requirements, the people satisfy the first of the two great commandments to love our God with all our heart, mind, and soul, found in Exodus 20:2-11.  The above requirements also fulfill the second of the two great commandments to love our neighbor as ourself, which is found in Leviticus 19:18, Gal. 5:14, Mark 12:28-33; Romans 13:9, Matt. 22:39; Luke 10:27; and James 2:8 within the Bible. 

The collective result of the sovereign people governing themselves under God’s laws found in the Bible is protection, both while they are on this earth and after they die.  Man’s laws only protect us while we are here in body, but God’s laws also protect as after we die and become spirit.  Therefore, a just society will base its laws entirely and exclusively upon God’s laws so as to maximize protection for all people both here and in the afterlife.  Anything less will produce evil in the sight of the Lord, perversion of the purposes of government, tyranny, and abuse of the legal and governmental apparatus for personal profit.

To answer the main question of this section on what exactly is government in the simplest possible way:

“IN AMERICA, GOVERNMENT IS US!  WE ARE THE GOVERNMENT!   EVERY ONE OF US!  Why?  Because in America under a Republican Form of Government, the People are the sovereigns, and not their public servants.”

The above conclusions are consistent with the Supreme Court, which said the following on this very subject, and note the use of the word “compact” once again:

"From the differences existing between feudal sovereignties and Government founded on compacts, it necessarily follows that their respective prerogatives must differ.  Sovereignty is the right to govern; a nation or State-sovereign is the person or persons in whom that resides. In Europe the sovereignty is generally ascribed to the Prince; here it rests with the people; there, the sovereign actually administers the Government; here, never in a single instance; our Governors are the agents of the people, and at most stand in the same relation to their sovereign, in which regents in Europe stand to their sovereigns. Their Princes have personal powers, dignities, and pre-eminences, our rulers have none but official; nor do they partake in the sovereignty otherwise, or in any other capacity, than as private citizens."
[Chisholm, Ex'r. v. Georgia, 2 Dall. (U.S.) 419, 1 L.ed. 454, 457, 471, 472) (1794)]

The above conclusions are also completely consistent with the words of President Abraham Lincoln, who said in his famous Gettysburg Address during the Civil War in 1863:

“It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.” 
[Abraham Lincoln, Gettysburg Address, November 19, 1863]

“. . .government of the people, by the people, and for the people” makes the People their own governors and government.  We simply can’t have any rulers above us if our Constitution (Article 4, Section 2 and Fourteenth Amendment Section1) makes everyone equal under the law and our Declaration of Independence says “All men are created equal”.  If the Judge and the President and the Congressmen have the same rights as us, they can’t be our rulers, and can only be our servants.  Even the Supreme Court agrees with the conclusion that the People are the sovereigns, which makes them their OWN governors and rulers:

  • Juilliard v. Greenman, 110 U.S. 421 (1884) :  “There is no such thing as a power of inherent sovereignty in the government of the United States…In this country sovereignty resides in the people, and Congress can exercise no power which they have not, by their Constitution entrusted to it.  All else is withheld.”
  • Hale v. Henkel,  201 U.S. 43 (1906) :  “His [the individual’s] rights are such as existed by the law of the land long antecedent to the organization of the State, and can only be taken from him by due process of law, and in accordance with the Constitution.  Among his rights are a refusal to incriminate himself, and the immunity of himself and his property from arrest or seizure except under a warrant of the law.  He owes nothing to the public so long as he does not trespass upon their rights.”
  • Perry v. U.S., 294 U.S. 330 (1935):  “In the United States, sovereignty resides in the people…the Congress cannot invoke sovereign power of the People to override their will as thus declared.”
  • Yick Wo v. Hopkins, 118 U.S. 356 (1886) :  “Sovereignty itself is, of course, not subject to law, for it is the author and source of law…While sovereign powers are delegated to…the government, sovereignty itself remains with the people.”

Another very important inference about the meaning of government is in order at this point.  If WE are the government here in America, and if WE accept any money from a public servant, then WE also become “employees” of the government within a legal context.  The tax code is written to apply entirely and exclusively to instrumentalities, “public officials”, and “employees” of the federal government, which is exactly what we become if we accept any amount of money from our public servants that we did not in fact earn with our own personal sweat and labor.  When public servants try to bribe you with your own stolen “tax” money using a socialist handout program, they in effect are attempting to bring you under the control of their laws as “employees” of the government!  The only thing the government can lawfully spend money on is a "public purpose", which means you must be a federal officer, agent, employee, or instrumentality on official business executing a constitutionally authorized government function in order to lawfully receive public funds.  Otherwise, you are committing theft and embezzlement by converting public funds to a private use.  Remember that the primary purpose of law is to control and limit what government can do so that the true sovereigns, the people, will be LEFT ALONE by the government. 

"The makers of our Constitution undertook to secure conditions favorable to the pursuit of happiness. They recognized the significance of man's spiritual nature, of his feelings and of his intellect. They knew that only a part of the pain, pleasure and satisfactions of life are to be found in material things. They sought to protect Americans in their beliefs, their thoughts, their emotions and their sensations. They conferred, as against the Government, the right to be let alone - the most comprehensive of rights and the right most valued by civilized men."
[Olmstead v. United States, 277 U.S. 438, 478 (1928)(Brandeis, J., dissenting);  see also Washington v. Harper, 494 U.S. 210(1990)]

This status of having accepted their stolen loot and thereby becoming connected to them as an “employee” is the status described in the Internal Revenue Code as being “effectively connected with a trade or business in the United States”.  Those who are “effectively connected” are plugged into the government matrix.  This point will become very important later on in Chapter 5, where we talk about who the proper subjects of the Internal Revenue Code truly are.  This status of being “effectively connected” really means that we have become a government whore and adulterer.  The legal dictionary defines “commerce” as intercourse:

“Commerce.  …Intercourse by way of trade and traffic between different peoples or states and the citizens or inhabitants thereof, including not only the purchase, sale, and exchange of commodities, but also the instrumentalities [governments] and agencies by which it is promoted and the means and appliances by which it is carried on…” 
[Black’s Law Dictionary, Sixth Edition, p. 269]

The Bible describes believers (us) as God’s bride.

“For your Maker is your husband, the Lord of hosts is His name; and your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel; he is called the God of the whole earth, for the Lord has called you like a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, like a youthful wife when you were refused,” says your God.”
[Isaiah 54:5-6, Bible, NKJV]

When we as God’s bride accept stolen loot, and involve ourselves in "commerce" with our public servants in the government, we become adulterers and friends of the world:

“Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure [unearned money] that war in your members [and your democratic governments]? You lust [after other people's money] and do not have. You murder [the unborn to increase your standard of living] and covet [the unearned] and cannot obtain [except by empowering your government to STEAL for you!]. You fight and war [against the rich and the nontaxpayers to subsidize your idleness]. Yet you do not have because you do not ask [the Lord, but instead ask the deceitful government]. You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures. Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world [or the governments of the world] is enmity with God?  Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world [or the governments of the world] makes himself an enemy of God.”
[James 4:4 , Bible, NKJV]

[1] This area is limited to the District of Columbia and the territories and possessions of the United States.