So, here's the thing. 40 years ago, it was nearly impossible to communicate someone to the entire world. Things like Wikileaks, Snowden, the Panama papers, etc. would be unthinkable (how would you let the entire world know of something that took a few tons of paper to store?). Now it is much, much harder to keep things hidden. Corruption and crime levels are probably the same as they've always been, but now they're out in the open. Business-as-usual is over, and governments all over the world know it.
The flip side, however, is that the common people are also unable to hide anything. Just as we know all the dirty stuff our politicians do, they now have access to everything we do. We're used to a system where public figures had no expectation of privacy, but we all did. Now the playing field is leveled. Privacy was a way to balance the power of the government vs. the people, and now that it is disappearing, we're left with a situation where power is naked. It's going to take a bit to reach an equilibrium.
So, here's the thing. 40 years ago, it was nearly impossible to communicate someone to the entire world. Things like Wikileaks, Snowden, the Panama papers, etc. would be unthinkable (how would you let the entire world know of something that took a few tons of paper to store?). Now it is much, much harder to keep things hidden. Corruption and crime levels are probably the same as they've always been, but now they're out in the open. Business-as-usual is over, and governments all over the world know it.
The flip side, however, is that the common people are also unable to hide anything. Just as we know all the dirty stuff our politicians do, they now have access to everything we do. We're used to a system where public figures had no expectation of privacy, but we all did. Now the playing field is leveled. Privacy was a way to balance the power of the government vs. the people, and now that it is disappearing, we're left with a situation where power is naked. It's going to take a bit to reach an equilibrium.