The vast majority of people is not important, important is whether they feel comfortable to challenge those in power or not.
State of active fear in everybody is not what it is about. The "benefit" is state when you think twice before you donate to Wikileaks or when you hesitate to voice support for Occupy Wall Street, because they might have been used against you at some point.
It is also the state when those you donated or joined occupy have to be more careful about what they do and say, because they know things said in supposedly private conversations might be twisted against them.
I know a few people who participated in Occupy Wall Street, and I myself have publicly spoken out in favor of Wikileaks. Having to "think twice" about doing either of these things is natural and hardly a "culture of mass fear", whether the post office is tracking mail or not.
State of active fear in everybody is not what it is about. The "benefit" is state when you think twice before you donate to Wikileaks or when you hesitate to voice support for Occupy Wall Street, because they might have been used against you at some point.
It is also the state when those you donated or joined occupy have to be more careful about what they do and say, because they know things said in supposedly private conversations might be twisted against them.