&gt; &quot;Under what circumstances would the government pay a federal agent to watch me have sex for the next 10 years?&quot;<p>When the federal agent is abusing her or his authority, of course. This point can then serve to to bring up deeper research which illustrate that this &quot;ridiculous&quot; hypothetical is a stone&#x27;s throw away from what has already happened, and what may be happening now. Such as:<p><a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.reuters.com&#x2F;article&#x2F;us-usa-surveillance-watchdog-idUSBRE98Q14G20130927" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.reuters.com&#x2F;article&#x2F;us-usa-surveillance-watchdog-...</a><p>Or,<p><a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.slate.com&#x2F;blogs&#x2F;future_tense&#x2F;2013&#x2F;08&#x2F;23&#x2F;bloomberg_report_nsa_employees_have_deliberately_abused_their_power.html" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.slate.com&#x2F;blogs&#x2F;future_tense&#x2F;2013&#x2F;08&#x2F;23&#x2F;bloomberg...</a><p>The first step of persuasion is describing how the problem for the many is a problem for the individual, i.e. the other party. People are less inclined to read more into things ( or listen to a longer explanation) if they don&#x27;t see an immediate personal stake. &quot;God, this guy keeps on talking. The NSA is listening in to ten million people&#x27;s phone calls? Their email too? Well, that&#x27;s their problem! I haven&#x27;t done anything wrong!&quot;<p>&gt; &quot;I have nothing to hide&quot; it&#x27;s generally short for...<p>The statement I intended to castigate was &quot;I don&#x27;t have anything to hide, so I don&#x27;t care if they spy on me&quot;. I did not clearly elucidate that in my original response and instead shortened the statement to &quot;I have nothing to hide&quot;, which was a mistake.<p>&quot;I have nothing to hide&quot; by itself is indeed shorthand that can be said in some contexts without reflecting badly on its speaker. But in discussions about government abuses&#x2F;ovverreach in which there is ample evidence that law enforcement officials have been untrustworthy, the &quot;so I don&#x27;t care if they spy on me&quot; indicates some self-delusion.