It took thousands of years of human civilisation before we got relatively benign governments. Power structures are not inherently benign; they must constantly be pressured to prevent malignant people using them to leverage their actions.
A non-authoritarian government is an historical anomaly. It's a ball balanced on top of a hill, pushed there by the deaths of millions, and kept there by the vigilance of those who care.
That is a beautiful metaphor. I mean that sincerely.
I care. If I didn't, I wouldn't have posted what I did.
But let me clarify. What I meant by the above is that by the recent leaks I feel like I've been photographed in a public place rather than in my bathroom. Further, I feel like I've given some degree of implied consent, or if I haven't, I would in order to keep using the technology that we all so enjoy. I offer these feelings as an anecdote to say that I think most people in my generation feel the same way.
As an aside, my feelings are similar but ultimately different from the "you don't have to worry if you have nothing to hide" argument. It's more "you don't have to worry about it if you've decided not to" with absolutely zero connotation as to what you as an individual should choose to do.
I do agree that this won't work for everybody. My grandmother probably doesn't know that cell base stations can, and do, log connections and RSSIs, making it easy for a cell phone company to know where you are whenever your phone's radio is reaching out in the most basic way. I don't think she has the information to make the kind of implied consent that I have. That definitely angers me.
You mention history. I don't think it's too much of a stretch to argue that government's ability to collect these data about us is actually preventing the kind of paranoia that brought about McCarthyism or Japanese internment. I'd imagine people in government today view these as horrible, crude, blunt instruments which mitigated tiny amounts of threat at huge irreparable cost. If we're going to have the paranoia, I'd rather they use surgeons tools and look before they leap.
That segues into my real concern. Paranoia. All of the activity discussed in these recent leaks stem from the same kind of paranoia that brought about the incredibly dark periods in our history which I mentioned above. How did we stop it those times? I think the answer is that we didn't. So how do we stop it now?
I care. I want to do something, but I love my country and I don't think paranoia can be battled with further paranoia or outrage. Sadly, I don't know the tools with which to fight.
You make what I believe is a fatal mistake of thinking that your individual efforts matter significantly one way or another. To suggest that any one person's level of care will impact the outcome of the US government is both disingenuous and frankly offensive to anyone who understands a modicum of statistics.
In other words, don't be so harsh on someone who doesn't think their individual vigilance is going to change the world. It is sufficient, morally speaking, to support a group who does your "caring" for you. Representative caring, you might call it.
If you want to suggest someone towards an activity, suggest the help a group that they believe in. But that draws the question, "What if there aren't any groups I believe in?" What do those truly in the minority do? Nothing is the answer to that question, because individuals mean nothing, and it leads to the following statement:
If you don't believe the same things a sufficiently large group of other people do, then your voice and your opinions don't effectively matter. How can you blame such a person for "not caring"?
A non-authoritarian government is an historical anomaly. It's a ball balanced on top of a hill, pushed there by the deaths of millions, and kept there by the vigilance of those who care.
Please start caring.