Sure, but even now with the greater visibility we have, these claims are never taken seriously en masse. One group would call you a traitor, and another would call you a conspiracy theorist.
I do not have a solution, but I'd just like to point out that if someone on HN makes a comment like the one GP did, they 100% understand that this isn't "new". I also don't think we should just accept this as a part of life because "it was all happening before", because the level of spying the internet has enabled is orders of magnitude worse than it was without it. We should be afraid and upset.
I agree with the latter part of what you're saying, but as for the former, you'd be surprised how many people I've met who really do think a lot of this surveillance and "our government does bad things" stuff is a recent development.
And yes, I have been, and remain, upset about it. No worries there.
I do not have a solution, but I'd just like to point out that if someone on HN makes a comment like the one GP did, they 100% understand that this isn't "new". I also don't think we should just accept this as a part of life because "it was all happening before", because the level of spying the internet has enabled is orders of magnitude worse than it was without it. We should be afraid and upset.