We're all ideological, Finnian. Your ideology is thinking you can simply walk away from government and it will leave you alone. As the saying goes, "If you're not at the table, you're on the menu." Part of how this problem has gotten as bad as it has is because decent people have disengaged.

The basic insight of The Founding Fathers was that whoever wields the ring will abuse the power. That's why all power must be checked. A disengaged public removes the most important check on the government (according to Madison). Your disengagement (and the disengagement of millions of Americans) is precisely what has helped create this corruption.

This is a long post, Finnian. You're clearly passionate. Don't pretend you don't care or that you really think walking away is a solution. And if you do think walking away is a solution, then how exactly do you think that works? Government is a universal feature of any group of humans. Accountable, transparent government is not. That's why Franklin said we have a republic if we can keep it.