A necessary component of a society where people feel safe is that there is a contrast between safety and the opposition, the opposition in this case being Intimidation. Those that are safe feel safe because there is a realm where intimidation cannot or otherwise will not touch. This is an essential attribute for safety and intimidation to co-exist. One cannot exist without the contrast of another, no matter how insignificant those things may be. You go to the store and buy groceries because you probably have no concerns that you’ll be mugged for example. Someone who is brand new to a large city may not understand things and may not have a general vibe of what that city is like, the culture, if they are in an area with a lot of crime etc. Therefore an essential element of them being intimidated is the relative sense that when they walk home and close their door they will be safe. This is one of the reasons that break-ins are so intimidating. They rob the person not just of material possessions but the semblance that they live in relative safety in their day to day. If they were in a neighborhood where break-ins are frequent it’d be perfectly natural and normal to feel safer at their job, or at the store, or other such places knowing they are at risk. The issue arises when the structure that is willing intimidation comes from the top down, whether that be institutional, like upsetting a very wealthy man, or a criminal cartel or a tyrannical fascistic regime. Once the intimidation that calls the safety into question is that you cannot feel safe because the risk you incur to your health and well being is always present, like there is a bad actor or systemic structure that may with impunity break into your home while you are sleeping. Will unilaterally cause undo suffering to you for based on seemingly no reason. Is all knowing and by extension can offensive engage with you in every facet of your life. The semblance of Safety collapses. People that cannot feel safe in a society quickly lose worry for intimidation. When all things are equal, and you feel unsafe every moment of every day walking around your life, some people become paranoid. Others become jaded, disinterested, untethered; and quickly in a society that has felt safety for a long time devoid of such people will lose concern for following the rules that allow that safety to exist in the first place. Rules, Laws, Societal contracts quickly fade and what is left is that which is scarier than intimidation, true disenfranchisement, and overall the lack of caring that allow those to be intimidated.