The Adventures of Gullible Gringo: How Government Love Extends Beyond the Border

by Number Six
Oct. 17, 2011

As a dual citizen, I answer to more than one government, not including the third I may be living under at a given time. You may also include the fourth “international” government whose norms may also apply. After all, NATO troops are stationed thirty minutes from my grandparent’s rural village in one of the countries of my citizenship.

One of the governments I am a citizen of leaves me completely alone, I have not heard from nor been solicited by this entity in any way. Ever. Nor have I desired any one thing from this entity.

The other government (you can guess which) does not leave me alone. I unwittingly took part in an experiment once. Living abroad and making less than the poverty line, I had not bothered to “file” an IRS income tax return. Some time later, my stateside “home” address had received a $600 fine for not bothering to submit a list of my (financial) possessions.

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