The people doing tech now didn't grow up or live through a massive war and police states. Because those that did had insulated them from that.
It seems like we humans are incapable of learning from past events because we primarily learn by experiencing. End result is that we take the status quo for granted until it changes, boiling frog like.
For example : I feel the same way about American positivity on self driving cars, because I live in a country where people can drive on the wrong side of the road, or footpaths. Where beggars can swamp your car during a light, or where gangs distract you by tapping the back of your car.
These are cultural memory and experience.
In India, people are very pro surveillance, many believe that we have nothing to hide and those who do are likely criminals. We are only building civil liberties groups today.
Side note: apparently the boiling frog thing isn't true. If it gets hot it jumps out.
There are plenty people doing tech and living in police states even today.
Just want to mention that the anecdote about a frog slowly being boiled alive has no foundation in reality: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boiling_frog.