The Nuremberg Defense

In school, most people learn that the Nazi government during World War II was evil and that the mass murder of Jews was evil. This crime was possible because police blindly obeyed orders, without thinking if the orders were good or evil. Most people also learn about the Nuremberg trials after World War II.

The Nuremberg trials contain an important good fnord. The Nazi soldiers said "I was just following orders. If I didn't carry out my order to murder the Jews, then myself and my family would have gone to jail. I had no choice." That was not accepted as a valid defense. The Nazi government lost the war. By definition, that makes all of its high-ranking State bureaucrats criminals.

Even in a State brainwashing center, people learn that "I was following orders!" is not a valid defense, in the context of Nazi Germany. However, they fail to apply that lesson to their everyday lives.

Any State bureaucrat, especially policemen, says "I'm just following orders! I'm just doing my job!" This is their justification for participating in the evil of the State.

If you're arrested by the State for income tax evasion, all the State enforcers will say "I'm just following orders!"

• Politicians won't seriously consider repealing the income tax law. The income tax allows the government to be very big. The income tax steals a lot of wealth that politicians can then dole out as pork. The income tax is the primary source of politicians' power.
• The bureaucrat at the IRS is just doing his job.
• The prosecutor who advocates for your arrest is just doing his job.
• The judge will say "It's not my job to decide if the law is good or bad. It's my job to enforce the law as written."
• The police who kidnaps or assaults you says "I'm just doing my job."
• In a trial, the judge probably won't allow you to explain "jury nullification" to the jury. Even if you are allowed to explain "jury nullification", there's no guarantee that the jurors will act on it. They might be intimidated by their pro-State brainwashing or by the judge.
• The mainstream media won't broadcast a story on "Taxation is theft!" The editor making the decision knows he would be fired if he published such a story. The editor values his job more than he values doing the right thing. Besides, the editor knows that, if he is fired, then there are plenty of other people eager to take his place. The editor isn't explicitly threatened with arrest for violating the orders of the State. The editor knows that he's sacrificing his career if he tells the truth, making it practically the same as being threatened with jail.
  

All of those people are just doing their job. The net overall result is a massive crime, and nobody feels individually responsible.

Each of the above people are responsible for the evil of the State. The police bear the most responsibility, because they're the ones who use violence to enforce the decisions of the other State agents.

It's also amusing to see people in online discussion forums invoke "Goodwin's Law". "Goodwin's Laws" says f someone makes a reference to Nazi Germany, then the person who makes the analogy automatically loses the debate. That is silly. Many of the abuses in our current society are just as bad as the Nazis or worse. The use of anti-psychotic and anti-depressant drugs is literally mass murder, affecting millions of people per year. The income tax and the Federal Reserve and the State literally make all Americans into slaves. Those abuses are just as serious or more serious, and they're happening right now.

People are taught that "I was following orders!" is not a valid excuse for committing evil. Unfortunately, people are thoroughly pro-State brainwashed. They cannot see that many common government functions, especially tax collection, are really crimes.