[bediger4000]

nothing bad has happened to me as a result

How can you be certain? How many really successful job interviews have you had since you started your one-person campaign, where the hiring company inexplicably dropped you like a hot potato? Do you regularly check your credit rating to see if weird stuff is showing up? Have your bicycle tires quit holding pressure?

I ask the last question because East Germany's Stasi did that sort of thing (https://books.google.com/books?id=GlbAmn_cajYC&pg=PA160&lpg=...). The USA "national security" establishment/"intelligence community" gets unbelievable amounts of money, that they must spend. Why not make and use "smell chairs" or randomly screw with people that openly oppose the deep state?

[mindcrime]

How can you be certain? How many really successful job interviews have you had since you started your one-person campaign, where the hiring company inexplicably dropped you like a hot potato? Do you regularly check your credit rating to see if weird stuff is showing up? Have your bicycle tires quit holding pressure?

Well, that's a fair point, so maybe I should say "nothing overt and noticeable has happened as a result." Beyond that, I could speculate about really subtle stuff, but that strikes me as a sure road to a level of paranoia that I don't want to engage in.

[bediger4000]

What level of paranoia is too paranoid, and why?

Three years ago, almost everyone laughed at folks who claimed the NSA was watching everyone. Now, it's an article of faith, and there's some evidence that people have changed behavior because of that faith.

Any sufficiently advanced level of precaution is indistinguishable from paranoia. That East German activist was probably a little puzzled by flat bicycle tires, but probably shrugged it off. What are we all shrugging off today? Stock market weirdness? Oh, that's just HFT, right?

It's known that folks profited off of "top secret" CIA-led coups in the 1950s (http://tuvalu.santafe.edu/~snaidu/papers/coups.pdf), so it's not out of the realm of reason to look at the stock market today to see if the current "intelligence community" is profiting.

[mindcrime]

What level of paranoia is too paranoid, and why?

That's a good question. Why are you asking? Who do you work for? What are you going to do with this information?!??

Just kidding... it is a good question, and I don't have a perfect answer. I guess I'd say the level of paranoia is too much when you reach the point of diminishing returns... that is, when it turns out that, even if you're right, knowing that doesn't help you because there's nothing you can do about it.

So, maybe an NSA agent sneaks into my parking lot every night and lets a few pounds of air out of my right rear tire. I can't prove that doesn't happen. But what am I going to do, camp out in my truck all night with my pistol at hand, hoping to catch the guy in the act? Not practical. Hire a private security guard? Not practical either. Etc., etc.