Yes, we're under the government's authority. Should we be? Do we have to be? What if everyone like you who imagined it to have authority suddenly stopped and thought "Everyone is an individual who doesn't need a group of people labelled "government" telling them how they believe their lives should be run and enforcing those views with threats of violence"?
Should we be? Yes. There is no better alternative, if you want a world that can function you need a world with governing bodies. The alternative is anarchy and that could quite easily be the end of the human race.
Do you have to be? No. You're welcome to move to any other part of the world you want. You can vote in whichever government you want. You have the freedom to choose whether or not you want to live under a certain government. That's the great thing about democracy as opposed to a dictatorship.
Also, remind me when the government makes threats of violence? They'll fine you or imprison you for breaking the law (laws that we as the people give them the power to make and enact) but the government isn't holding a gun to your head. The police, federal police/Fbi and military aren't threatening you with violence and even against criminals there is only ever enough force used to subdue a fleeing or violent criminal. If you go quietly, you won't be harmed. If you go quietly and do get harmed, then the police themselves are liable to be punished by the same laws.
Would you give a group of people the right to pass "laws" you don't agree with and use force to punish you if you disobey? If I asked you if you want to hire me to "pass laws that represent you" but I had the right to fine or imprison you for breaking them, would you say "sure" or would you want to know the laws beforehand? Moreover, would you want to follow the law because it is the law, or because you believe it to be right? Under the concept of law, it's irrelevant whether you personally believe it to be right or wrong, the only reason you have to follow it is because it is the law.
If you asked me to vote for you I'd refuse based on the fact that our political ideologies don't align at all. I'd rather vote for someone who'd like to see a country prosper other than fall apart. However, if somehow you came into power and I broke a law that you managed to pass, then yes you'd have every right to imprison/fine me and whilst I wouldn't enjoy it I would recognise the governments right to do so.
It really isn't hard to learn the laws beforehand, the important ones are ingrained in our heads from when we're school children and we learn about the more complex ones as we get older. We have every law that is currently enacted out on the internet where we can study them too and there's thousands of books on law. Hell, here Politics and Law is a class you can take at school. It's not like the government is making sneaky laws to try and catch us out for kicks, laws that are passed are easily found by the public and very publicly announced half the time.
The only thing constant about the law is that all the current laws must be followed; they can change. Also, plenty of laws are based on what the politicians who pass them believe is right or wrong.
That is why I said "the law" not "laws". You're correct that laws passed are often based upon what the government deems is right or wrong, although many are also passed due to outside pressure groups and lobbyists. On top of that, we as the people give the government the right to pass laws when we elect them in. Why is that so hard for you to grasp?
"Government" is a group of people claiming to have the right to decide how society should organize and interact and takes it away from you, because you are not the one personally there writing and passing the legislation. Electing a representative is nothing more than hoping they pass laws you agree with, and if they don't, oh well. You still have to follow them. Do you want to give authority to a group like that?
They're not claiming anything, governments have the right to make these decisions because we give them that right. You make it sound like political parties don't want to stay in power, the funny thing is that people in positions of authority like to keep them. If they don't want to get voted out, they'll make laws that as many people as possible agree with.
For example, Australia's current government have made a shitload of enemies in the middle and lower classes (the majority of the people) so it is highly doubtful they'll be elected back in come the next election. The US system is a tad more convoluted, but the gist is the same.
So you want to give the government the right to punish you for acting based on what you personally believe is right if it goes against one of their laws?
If I personally believe something is right and still break the law, the government has the right to punish me. Or rather, the right to trial me at court and then punish me if a jury convicts me if you want to be more specific. I am okay with that because my vote counts towards who is in power. If I feel like a law wrongs me, I can rally to see it changed.
"Unless you're also breaking the law." I'm sure you notice the contradiction.
There was exactly zero contradictions in that statement. Nobody can punish you for breaking your own moral code
unless (this being the key word) you are also breaking the law.