[Nadya]

>I doubt any level of wrongdoing within the US Government could shock me anymore.

Worse is that less and less of the population sees any of the things they do as wrongdoing. After all, they're not doing it for power grabs or control - they're doing it to keep us safe and stop the terrorists and catch the paedophiles!

Mass surveillance is one of the first signs of a totalitarian state. History is easier to read about than to learn from. "Not this time." or "That wouldn't happen in {currentYear}" are the defenses.

I'm sure those were the same defense several centuries ago. But this time will be different!

I'm really scared of what the world will look like in another 2-3 decades.