The Ink-Pot and the Palette

I think The Atlantic article's author might be misguided if she seeks to or thinks one can separate the issue of lack of privacy from the issue of the power individual citizens have (or don't have) in relation to their government. Surely the NSA revelations show that individual citizens have zero power in relation to the government if they lack privacy in their communications? Isn't violation of privacy a fundamental violation? I mean, there's a freaking reason interfering with the mail in the US is a felony, not a misdemeanour. I don't think the Kafkaesque model is necessarily more comforting than the Orwellian.