Worse, we are conditioning people to believe they can get away with this kind of blatant abuse. The longer this goes on without somebody being forced to answer for their role in it, we will see more and more people coming to the conclusion that they ARE actually above the law. Nobody threw the people involved in ${OLDER_PROJECT} in jail - despite being obviously unconstitutional and/or illegal at a glance - so why would ${NEW_PROJECT} be any different?
This feedback loop, I fear, is at the root of a lot of these issues. We've seen a general emboldening in many areas. In some areas, nobody is even bothering to to pretend their abuses are legal and constitutional. Without the fear of getting "caught" in some way - which would break the conditioning feedback-loop - I expect these kinds of abuses to simply get bolder and more frequent.
There was a time thought things like the legal system could reintroduce that fear. As I've learned about just how bad things have gotten, I now strongly suspect it will take more. I never wish for violence. Unfortunately, I really don't see attitudes changing until at least some heads quite literally end up on a pike. Anything less will be interpreted as still "getting away with it".
Seriously, I don't want a damn civil war. I just think it seems foolish to expect things like "the law" to fix anything, when you see people publicly announcing their intention to ignoring the law, and barely even makes the news.
Worse, we are conditioning people to believe they can get away with this kind of blatant abuse. The longer this goes on without somebody being forced to answer for their role in it, we will see more and more people coming to the conclusion that they ARE actually above the law. Nobody threw the people involved in ${OLDER_PROJECT} in jail - despite being obviously unconstitutional and/or illegal at a glance - so why would ${NEW_PROJECT} be any different?
This feedback loop, I fear, is at the root of a lot of these issues. We've seen a general emboldening in many areas. In some areas, nobody is even bothering to to pretend their abuses are legal and constitutional. Without the fear of getting "caught" in some way - which would break the conditioning feedback-loop - I expect these kinds of abuses to simply get bolder and more frequent.
There was a time thought things like the legal system could reintroduce that fear. As I've learned about just how bad things have gotten, I now strongly suspect it will take more. I never wish for violence. Unfortunately, I really don't see attitudes changing until at least some heads quite literally end up on a pike. Anything less will be interpreted as still "getting away with it".
Seriously, I don't want a damn civil war. I just think it seems foolish to expect things like "the law" to fix anything, when you see people publicly announcing their intention to ignoring the law, and barely even makes the news.