Holy crap this post is good, your writing is amazing!

Definitely been following the public surveillance surge in China. I think that the major difference between the two countries is that China is upfront about its plans, and has the kind of government that you'd expect to head in that direction. US on the other hands, has amendments in the constitution that supposed to protect one's privacy (and mind you, many people view the constitution as sacred). And yet, as you said, the US was the first to brake that principle, what's more in secret, and when they were exposed, they deemed the whistle blower a traitor to the nation.

On the whole though, I also see it as an inevitable part of the technological progress. The more freedom we discover through technology, the more freedom we are doomed to loose when that technology inevitably lands in the hands of power.

Pessimists unite! lol