[aporetics]

Nihilism and expressions of futility are not the same thing, fyi. In this case, if the original poster were nihilistic, they would not care one way or another about privacy. It would be meaningless, like everything else.

And the original poster remains correct about power. Power is never willingly given up by an institution (it can, however, be given up by individuals, when they decide that there is something more important than power). That is why we (assuming USA, here) have divided government, so power cannot ever be concentrated in any one branch. In this case, the hearing on 702 is being held by one branch, congress, to decide whether to limit or expand the power of another branch, the executive. It’s an important distinction; without that separation there really would be no hope to restore basic privacy.