You seem misinformed about multiple issues. First, while it's certainly true that people of every age have complained about the past, it's also true that some

You seem misinformed about multiple issues. First, while it's certainly true that people of every age have complained about the past, it's also true that some ages were really shitty. Rome went through several really bad emperors, for instance. If we are to learn anything from history, we should learn that there exist signs that we are entering an age of tyranny. It's fine to debate what they are, or whether they are prevalent today, but it's not okay just to toss out any observation about the way things currently are with "yeah but people always complain like this" That's a pretty scary throwaway. Second, and most tragically, the more laws we have the more the police have the ability to selectively choose. You seem to have it backwards. In a society with a few laws, if the cops bust you they have to pick one random one and try to make it fit. In a society with complicated, diverse, and sometimes conflicting laws, they have a lot more options over how to send you to jail, and it's more likely that one of these options will fit. In the states, for instance, we've made it a felony to lie to a federal official in the progress of his duties. That's so broad and free-ranging that even with an attorney present it's not clear what citizens should do to be sure they are not crossing the line into committing a major crime. The police get to decide. Likewise, many states are choosing not to enforce marijuana laws -- a stance I agree with -- but the national government is constantly enforcing them anyway. At a certain level of complexity, it's all about which laws get attention from officials and which don't. It might seem that creating a more complex system of laws is a natural consequence of having a more complex and modern society. That's also a fallacy, as complex societal interactions have been working just fine with few laws for recorded history. However, the reverse is true: when a certain degree of complexity is reached, society actually becomes much more simple. Once the system is not understandable to the common man, police can do what they want, prosecutors can pick and choose which laws to enforce or not, and politically-connected people get to live like kings. It is easy to think that each law we add somehow makes the world a more just and fair place to live in, but that's only because in our mind we pretend that this law will be applied universally. Authorities have long since passed the point where laws are applied universally. To hear and get excited about a new set of laws now is simply to desire to enforce one set of laws at the expense of another (we are never told which laws will be receiving less enforcement action). It's a way for politicians to get elected, not make society a more just place. All of this is counter-intuitive, I'll grant. But it's not like it's a secret.