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“The secret police have several functions, my dear . . . The first is the classical one. They keep an ear out for what people are saying and report it to their superiors. The second function is intimidatory. They want to make it seem as if they have us in their power; they want us to be afraid. . . . The third function consists of staging situations that will compromise us. Gone are the days when they tried to accuse us of plotting the downfall of the state. That would only increase our popularity. Now they slip hashish in our pockets or claim we've raped a twelve-year-old girl. They can always dig up sone girl to back them. . . . They need to trap people . . . to force them to collaborate and set other traps for other people, so that gradually they can turn the whole nation into a single organization of informers.” — Milan Kundera