What happened?

Twenty-five year ago I tried to encrypt my email. It didn't work. My recipients laughed and ignored my emails. Twenty-five years ago I cautioned my sons "be careful what you post on the Internet, it is forever long after the initial context is gone. They laughted. 

A couple of days ago I posted a relatively passive commentary about the tax bill. I received a response that I thought was lucid and insightful. I asked the respondent if I could post their response without attribution. The answer was no. What was shocking was the why. 

Paraphrasing "I am unwilling to expose myself to the hateful attacks of the left to include physical danger to myself and my family." What saddened me was that I could not disagree.

Paranoia? I thought about this and the results were frightening. It was already all over. Google had read the text of his email - as they do to every email to a gmail account. Somewhere without any privacy regulation his political views were available to Google's AI. And Googles' employees. We could chat on the phone. I am in a foreign country. Do i teally believe that NSA would not sweep up the call? Do I need to start every telephone call to the States with "I am a U.S. Citizen and monitoring this call is illegal?"

This is America. I need not be concerned. Only if I am an idiot. Daily I read of corruption at the FBI, DOJ, IRS, State, and the office of the special counsel. I read ludicrous statements by politicians that illuminate their ignorance and partisan bias. I feel like a spectator in the colosseum in ancient Rome. Kill, kill, kill! The unbridled hate on Twitter is overwhelming. Kill me because I am white. Kill me because I am a man. A conservative. Not confused about my gender. Because I believe in evil people in the world.

How did we get here?