Using this line of argumentation, you might as well start enslaving (sorry, “impressing”) people into your navy again.

Everything they could was a lot less back before the fruits of industrial productivity allowed people to have their basic needs met while giving a huge fraction of their surplus to the state to do what it pleases with.

Yes, and perfect law enforcement is much worse than society than spotty law enforcement, because spotty law enforcement is how all societal progress got made.

Imagine if we jailed every gay person the moment they had a gay thought. How legal do you think being gay would be now?