I can definitely respect that point of view. My view is that people need to play their strengths. Personally my ability as a programmer is stronger than my ability as a political activist. So I choose to donate my time to free software and my money to the EFF. I also choose to invest my money in companies that have a proven progressive stance on patents and copyright (ex: Red Hat [1, 2]). The only direct political thing I do is vote. Everything else is by proxy.
Definitely, but hopefully it'll be too late by that stage for governments to do anything. Personally, I realized a few years ago that I feel no bond with America in particular, and I value ethical government more than I fear running from unethical ones. If guaranteeing they can't control certain things has a cost, I'm happy to pay it.
As to speaking out now, I've already sent off a few emails, and encourage everyone to do everything they can to fight opaque governing. In a (idealized as a) democracy, keeping information away from voters is downright unethical, and goes against its core principles.
Sheeple are not governing bodies, they're weapons for people who want more power. The only way to prevent that in a democratic-styled government is education, and more (healthy) distrust of the government.
