We can't separate ourselves from society, nor should we want to. But we should also ensure checks are in place so that society's capacity to control the individual is not absolute, so as to mitigate the negative side-effects that can spring from its convulsions.
Perfect and immediate enforcement of every law prevents many undesireable activities, but it removes what I consider to be necessary alack from the system. It should be enough that the ledger is transparent, and the law can be retroactively enforced when law enforcement is made aware of the violation.
Today's democracy is just a dictatorship in sheep's clothing, and I'm not convinced democratic governments were ever anything but.
> illegal activity like human trafficking, child porn, weapons trade, etc.
Boogiemen... Not that these things don't happen, but that they happen rarely, and the government doesn't even do a good job of stopping these things.
Worst of all good people believe the government stops these things and don't work to protect themselves and their community from them because of this belief.