I just started reading "Society and Sanity"[0]. It's an interesting read so far, and opens with a prediction that if society forgets what a human is, that society will tend towards this sort of behavior-- arbitrary treatment of fellow humans, with the only argument against such treatment being, "I don't like it, and I wish you'd be kinder to people." And the counter argument being, "I like it, and I don't want to be kinder to people." If we're to solve this problem, we have to get back to the essential foundational idea that human beings have intrinsic rights which exist and are not simply concessions of the state.

[0] https://www.amazon.com/Society-Sanity-Understanding-Live-Tog...