The "some abuses make it worth scrapping the whole thing" thesis is just pure folly. Two parallel possible spins on that: "Restrict the government since other

The "some abuses make it worth scrapping the whole thing" thesis is just pure folly. Two parallel possible spins on that: "Restrict the government since otherwise people will abuse government power." "Have a lot of rules and regulations since otherwise people will abuse individual liberties." Both of these make just as much sense on paper to me. On one hand you have examples of government harassment; on the other hand you have people literally being willing to sell other people poison to make a buck. The problem in both cases is the people, not the system. I've come to the thinking that you have to build societal values from the bottom up. You aren't gonna lawyer your way to a perfect system if you are still fostering an environment that encourages people to ignore that system, resist it, and take advantage of each other.