> Criminals by and large just want money, governments want power. That makes them a far more serious threat.
It's really, really easy to say this living in a place where the rule of law is reasonably robust. There are many parts of the world where this isn't the case.
I am living in Indonesia right now. I would say at first I agreed with you. However what I see as time goes on is that the rule of law in the US is largely an elaborate illusion.
The point of rule of law is supposed to be that the government is bound by the laws. Calling this "robust" with regard to the NSA is the equivalent of putting ones head in the sand....
>There are many parts of the world where this isn't the case.
There are even more parts of the world where the "rule of law" is what opresses people rather than criminals. Dictatorships, third world monarchies, banana republics etc. And sometimes, criminals and an opressive government go hand in hand, as in some latin american countries...
BTW, the district in Indonesia which has the best government is a monarchy (the Sultanate of Jogjakarta). It is a Constitutional Monarchy and the Sultan does not have legislative power (only executive power).
I will admit though that as an American it seems weird to have a Sultan of a small district in a larger parliamentary democracy. It would be like having a King of New Hampshire....
It's really, really easy to say this living in a place where the rule of law is reasonably robust. There are many parts of the world where this isn't the case.