Under new Dutch legislation, the police can now cordon off areas of a town and search everybody in that area for weapons. No protection of the Fourth Amendment against unreasonable searches. If you're in the area, you'll get searched, just for being there. The weapons they're looking for are of course guns (in gun-free Holland), knives, or basically anything that may be used as a weapon. A poll finds massive support for this erosion of civil liberties, with 92% of those polled in favor. Other key results are that 82% think that the searches need not be announced in advance and 67% opine they can be carried at random times. Also 78% claim to have no problem with being searched.

I guess that puts me in the 8% who think this is an outrageous erosion of civil liberties. It is depressing to think that the population has become so inured to state intrusion in all aspects of life, that a draconian measure such as this one finds broad support. Once you start down the path of outsourcing self-defense to the state, the contract between the state and the citizen changes. No longer is the citizen the ultimate source of authority, but he becomes the state's supplicant for mercies and protection. You are not supposed to defend yourself, as Big Brother will take care of that for you. Except when he's not around (not even we here have managed to slip THAT far).

Crime is a big and growing problem in the Netherlands, but eroding civil liberties is not the right way of fixing that problem. It's another step on the way to a more authoritarian structure of government oversight. Sure, crime in a completely totalitarian state will be lower. But it's not a fun place to live. Then again, I guess people deserve the kind of government they've got.