[Tublecane]

What irks me mist is that dangling over our heads are thousands of laws, of which no one—not regular citizens nor cops nor lawyers—has comprehensive knowledge, any one of which we can be guilty of at any moment. That, not absence of rules, represents the bad kind of anarchy. The worst are the elastic charges like obstruction, disorderly conduct, etc. through which cops on the scene become absolute dictators.

[Peet]

What irks me mist is that dangling over our heads are thousands of laws, of which no one—not regular citizens nor cops nor lawyers—has comprehensive knowledge, any one of which we can be guilty of at any moment. That, not absence of rules, represents the bad kind of anarchy. The worst are the elastic charges like obstruction, disorderly conduct, etc. through which cops on the scene become absolute dictators.

 Did you really think we want those laws observed? said Dr. Ferris.  We
 want them to be broken. You'd better get it straight that it's not a bunch
 of boy scouts you're up against... We're after power and we mean it...
 There's no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is
 the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren't enough
 criminals one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that
 it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws. Who wants a
 nation of law-abiding citizens?  What's there in that for anyone? But just
 pass the kind of laws that can neither be observed nor enforced or
 objectively interpreted and you create a nation of law-breakers and then
 you cash in on guilt.  Now that's the system, Mr. Reardon, that's the game,
 and once you understand it, you'll be much easier to deal with.

                                  - Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged 1957

[FreedomPoster]

Anarcho-tyranny is the best concept I’ve seen to cover what you are describing.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_T._Francis#Anarcho-tyranny

Threatening this homeowner with prosecution for obstruction is a great example of the general concept.

[JimRed]

What irks me mist is that dangling over our heads are thousands of laws, of which no one—not regular citizens nor cops nor lawyers—has comprehensive knowledge, any one of which we can be guilty of at any moment.

"There's no way to rule innocent men. The only power government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren't enough criminals, one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws." Ayn Rand, ATLAS SHRUGGED

[zeugma]

What irks me mist is that dangling over our heads are thousands of laws, of which no one—not regular citizens nor cops nor lawyers—has comprehensive knowledge, any one of which we can be guilty of at any moment. That, not absence of rules, represents the bad kind of anarchy. The worst are the elastic charges like obstruction, disorderly conduct, etc. through which cops on the scene become absolute dictators.

One that particularly has annoyed me recently is this: There is a federal law against transferring (especially prescription) medication from the labelled bottles they come in to other, unlabelled containers.

What this essentially means is that just about every person who has to take medications at various times during the day is a potential felon if they have one of those mtwtfss boxes that keeps pills separated by day so they can make sure they take their medication properly. This is one of the (allegedly) unintentional consequences of our insane war on drugs. The government needs to be informed that you simply can't legislate everything.