[friend_and_foe]

I think this is a phenomenon we observe when people become parts of machines. The cops, the conductor, a bureaucrat at a paperwork filing office, they all take on this position of neutrality, of deference to the system in which they function. Any autonomy they exercise becomes an unpredictability in the smooth operation of the machine, one which they believe is more good than bad and a worthwhile trade off, so in situations where the answer is not clear, the mechanics of the machine must be maintained. Truly they are cogs in a machine.

[ishandotpage]

In a McLuhanistic interpretation,

"We become what we behold. We shape our tools and then our tools shape us"