The law exists not only as a mechanism to affirmatively regulate the behavior of society members, but also as a source of remedy when breaches occur. The true power of it stems from the enforcement of the law. The way this power grows, is through the fear of enforcement, which ultimately encourages the idea of compliance as a means of survival. When individuals who are considering breaking the law appreciate the risk of being caught and the consequence is severe enough, they are likely to be dissuaded from breaking that law. Under the theory of rational choice theory, individuals become less likely to break the law as the severity of its consequence and the risk of enforcement increases. As our society becomes increasingly more surveilled, the risk of enforcement—or at least the perceived risk of enforcement—becomes more and more prevalent. When coupled with the existing adherence to the status quo, it becomes more and more difficult for individuals to break the norms.

Currently, we are watching those in power more openly use surveillance as a means of control. With the proposal to review social media accounts of students and immigrants to identify student protestors for deportation we can clearly see the priorities of our government as it exists today. Our government today is clearly using its power to push a specific agenda that benefits the very few that exist at the top of our class system. Although the United States government is no stranger to using surveillance technology to monitor individuals, this government has left all semblance of freedom and privacy behind. The stark shift between this administration and the last is not only the different goals and values, but also the different levels of regard for the law and the history of this nation. What makes this shift ever more novel is that even while conceding that the maintenance of the status quo is a result of the psychological impacts of law enforcement and the comfort of compliance, one could argue that the scariest aspect of our current government is their disregard of the status quo. So why is that those who yearn for a world with increased justice, human rights, and freedom have such a difficult time breaking away from the status quo? In contrast, we now watch as those who seek out a more restricted, divided world are boldly breaking the status quo daily.

This makes starkly clear just how docile our society has become. It feels as though all the red flags that have been revealed to me through my studies of workers’ rights and human rights are now piled up in a seemingly unsurmountable mountain. All the different aspects of our society that shape how we are controlled have come together to create a population of people who are overwhelmingly too comfortable, or too uneducated, or too tired, or too afraid, or too vulnerable to stop what we are watching unfold. This makes the few who do radically and publicly oppose the current agenda increasingly vulnerable to being punished or retaliated against.

In the society that we currently live in, courage is vital. Now, more than ever before, standing by is the equivalent of waiting for your turn. This is a concept that has been relevant throughout the history of the world, and especially in times where authoritarianism rises. As a result, the saying “silence is complicity” has been used in countless movements around the world. It highlights the reality that standing by and watching as injustice happens is equivalent to allowing it to happen. And the idea that inaction is an action. Unfortunately, as discussed above, the way our society has been functioning in the recent past has yielded a population that is not overwhelmingly courageous.

In a society where the population has become so compliant, it becomes easier and easier for those in power to grow and expand this power. The psychological effects of the law and how it shapes societies is not discussed or even acknowledged enough, even though it is vital to the structure of our society. The psychology of compliance and behavior can teach us a great deal about the point in history at which we exist currently. The power being amassed by the authoritarian powers prevalent in the United States today would lose immense power if all those in disagreement failed to comply. Our society would cease to function as it does if a significant portion of the population decided to simply not comply with laws and regulations. Since our legal system enforces the law primarily in a reactive way, the main reason our society is able to function as it does is through compliance. As long as individuals continue to fear the consequences of breaking the law, society will continue as normal. Moreover, the maintenance of the status quo requires the same thing. In a society like this, fear becomes a powerful tool that can be easily used to maintain control over the population.