> Surveillance in China is a Damocle's sword at worst > Police will look the other way as long as you don't force their hand. This is a recipe for massive cor

> Surveillance in China is a Damocle's sword at worst > Police will look the other way as long as you don't force their hand. This is a recipe for massive corruption. Selective enforcement allows low-level bureaucrats and law enforcement officers to "decide" to enforce the law based on criteria like "has this person paid me this month". A consistently-enforced surveillance state under a democracy is "better" in the sense that its injustice is more obvious to the electorate and there's at least a chance to repeal it at the voting booth. Both are generally terrible however.