I am in middle Europe, in the sort of country where the lessons of these sorts of shenanigans are not, generally, over-ignored by the general populace at large,

I am in middle Europe, in the sort of country where the lessons of these sorts of shenanigans are not, generally, over-ignored by the general populace at large, and the citizenry indeed feels genuinely responsible for not letting these apparat re-emerge as a means of social control. Alas there are generations and generations of Westerners - after all, we are stateless here in the HN frame - who are, moreover, completely willing to overlook the crimes of their state and just let it all happen, "for whatever reason". This is why I, also, choose not to ever live in the US. (It is the only reason: that I chose not to.) Members of states currently erecting apparatus of human social control, with explicit intent to violate human rights of any individual, no matter their non-/statehood, need to do one thing to change it all: move. Keep moving. Abandon your culture, and acclimate to a new one. Repeat, ad inf.