My husband and I shrugged a few years ago. The hassle with the dozens of taxes and literally hundreds of regulations, coupled with the puny take-home....well...we shrugged. We have enough, now to live reasonably comfortable. It was time to give it up.
Most of my family shrugged. Sort of. We have a family owned business and took ourselves off the payroll. No more FICA taxes and contributions to Unemployment and Social Security and Workman's Comp contributions. My wife took a job with a Government Contractor and we are paying off all our debt (mostly business debt) in a rapid fashion. We already own all our property out right save for our twice yearly tax payments to the state.
Now we are working towards a very low financial profile where we spend and earn very little money yet maintain a robust lifestyle.
Our next move is a small farm near town so we can expand our gardening and can also maintain a few cows and pigs and chickens for food.