What I've concluded over the years is that this is actually what the American people want. In other words, the policing is not "happening" to us - it is reques

What I've concluded over the years is that this is actually what the American people want. In other words, the policing is not "happening" to us - it is requested by us. The same way people like to watch those viral videos of monkeys being bullied. Even here on HackerNews, you can see this: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26624920 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26624920 It only takes a few of these types of people in a community to make it feel policed (and that overall, people are neutral towards this happening). Also, I want to point out it's not just in the US. I live in Germany now, and it's far worse here (people are seriously out for blood regarding minor indiscretions), but the legal system is more neutered/fair. You can see this in threads where people will post a cool thing they built, and people will chime in reminding them that they are breaking the law by not having an impressum (in Germany and Austria you're forced to put your name + address on almost everything): https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30952084 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30952084 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30708217 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30708217 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31364983 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31364983 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26469343 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26469343 Imagine doing the same thing for people talking about smoking pot on HN: "Just so you know, marijuana is illegal... so yeah, I'm gonna report you, sorry to ruin the fun". My main point is that it often feels like the policing institutions exist outside of us, but in reality it's just our next door neighbors.