Except that people have their assets frozen and their kids taken by CPS every day and I've yet to see a mass uprising or even a significant number of shooting sprees because of it. Oh, you thought they'd announce on 6pm news that they're freezing all the assets of all the gun owners so we'd all know it was happening? Nope. Never going to happen. If this happens to you, you'll think you're the only one. I remember about 3 or 4 years ago there were a couple of cases one summer of some guys barricaded in their homes because the government was going to seize the property for failure to pay taxes. I didn't see a bunch of 2A supporters running out to start a revolution over either case and that is exactly what I would expect the scenario the author described to look like if it ever happened - a handful here and a handful there until they're all gone. Hell, if they go down that road, I bet the NSA just tags on a "let's report this guy is suspect of child porn" to the file when they come after folks who are vocal on NES, just for fun.
Fortunately, I don't believe it will ever come to either the scenario above or the door-to-door cops. Those who own the system already have everything they want. The system produces plenty of wealth, power, and influence already, why bother with the effort of confiscations, camps, and all that other tinfoil hat nonsense? The rancher doesn't need to trap all his sheep in individual pens, he just has to know they'll stay in his field and can be sheared on a regular basis, regardless of what grass they eat and how they choose to bleat at one another. In fact, to much control reduces the output of the system.
