It didn't start with control. The government, starting with LBJ's Great Society, became the nanny state, taking care of people from cradle to grave.
It started with Welfare. Food stamps. Housing. Health care. AFDC. WIC. Alphabet agencies up the ying yang to pick up after people.
Then came the lawyers. Suddenly, it's not your fault anymore. It's the fault of the guy with the deepest pockets.
Personal responsibility went out the window. Social stigmas (against out-of-wedlock pregnancies, homosexuality, obesity, immorality) are passe -- I'm surprised they're not considered hate crimes. Political correctness is in. Zero tolerance is in, taking away basic judgment.
There's nothing left to control people's behavior -- except more laws.
You know, rp, I agree with virtually every item in your post, but find bizarre the conclusion that you draw - that people nowadays are crap, and the only way to make life bearable is to have an active and powerful state.
It is the state intrusions themselves which have engendered the very real social disorders you enumerate.
This would be the public policy analogue of iatrogenic diseases, defined as those caused by medical intervention itself.
The modern state is at war with its people - and only one side will be victorious.
The more laws there are,the less law there is!