i recently tried one of those cashierless amazon stores. it was an odd jolt, this feeling to be trusted, by default. It was vaguely reminiscent off one in my childhood, when, after my parents had sent me on an errand to the local grocer, I'd forgotten the money and the clerk/owner let me just walk out since they knew me. Presumably they and my mom would take care of the balance later.

I live now in a city where small exchanges are based on a default of of mistrust (e.g. locking up the tide-pods behind a glass case - it's not a meme). The only super market near (not even _in_) my food desert started random bag checks.

The modern police state requires surveillance technology, but abusive authority has flourished in any technological environment. the mafia had no problem to terrorize entire neighborhoods into omerta for example, without high technology. i'm sure there's other examples.

i don't know the right answer, but considering the extent to which anti-social and criminal attitudes are seemingly allowed to fester, while everybody else is expected to relinquish their dignity, essentially _anonymize_ themselves, it makes me less and less have a kneejerk response to the expansion of technologically supported individualization.