JesseHumphry

The first step is to understand that people don't see it this way, OP, and that expressing it this way doesn't actually do much to engage those whose minds you wish to change in conversation. A lot of the reason is that people just don't have time. They have things to do. And so that will tilt them more into their bias because it's much easier to take the word of someone who already agrees with you and is rationalizing it for you, than it would be for you to be actively engaged in the political process or in any local social systems that are attempting to replace broken political systems. Now in my opinion, that will always serve the ends of whoever gets power, regardless of their political affiliation. Which means there's an incentive to systematize much more casual participation in social and political systems, especially at scale. But additionally, it incentivizes a very particular kind of political landscape; the politician that wins will almost always be one who runs on a simple platform: "The only thing you have to do is vote for me, and I will take care of everything". And that's what we're seeing. People would rather pass the hard work off to someone they believe in, or at least who says the right things, than to take an active role in improving their community and country themselves. It's down to this: the world has gotten big, messy, loud, and complicated. Mass media and social media have made it impossible to quickly tell the difference between a truth and a lie. What do people do when they have no reasonably efficient way to parse reality? They will have to trust their instinct. And their instinct will always lean towards whatever is most self-beneficial: trust the leader because he says that's all you have to do, and you can focus on your family and your work. Now, unfortunately, the truth is that the answer to your question is even more complicated than that. But I would definitely say some introspection is in order here.

The purchase time slots don't work when you have a locally owned shop that sells what it wants, when it wants, even on religious holidays. You can get all the beer and liquor you want around the clock if you know a shop nearby. I doubt enforcement of any kind would reach those venues.

I really wouldn't hang a hat on this. All it'll take is one high-profile crime linked, however tangentially, to the abuse of these exemptions, and that'll be the end of it.

I would imagine it's not an uptick in crimes, but an uptick in profile. Which basically means if your nationality isn't in the news, you're probably fine.