Can you imagine why anyone would want to avoid involving the authorities? They’re obviously all up to no good.
When listing the many bad effects of authoritarian and nanny-state policies, we usually remember to include “alienating the public from the police”. But I’m not sure it gets the attention it deserves. The all-providing, all-protecting state really is becoming a parent to its citizens. And the citizens become the sullen teenager, not involving Mum and Dad in anything he doesn’t need them to be involved in.
I went to the IEA yesterday for the launch of Dominic Raab’s book “The Assault on Liberty”. I won’t go into detail about the book until I’ve finished reading it, but again, I’m wondering how much of the retooling of the police and justice systems has been made necessary by the collapse in public trust. When the state’s scope was limited, it commanded trust within that scope. As its scope grows, the number of reasons for not getting involved with it in any way mount up. Most people have something to hide, and that’s always been the case. But today, most people have something to hide from the police.