The notion of encrypted private communication didn't exist a couple of decades ago and people are talking about it as necessary for rule of law.
There's a missing logical link in there somewhere.
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You've changed the contents of your comment.
I don't adhere to the American Civil Religion, so I don't need to consider opinions of the founders of the project.
Sure, we didn’t have encrypted communication a couple decades ago, but we did have an expectation of privacy: letters, phone calls, even in-person conversations.
Encryption is just the modern way of preserving that same right in a digital context.
Nor was pervasive monitoring of our every action, nor were our actions and daily lives conducted on a digital system that makes data storage trivial.
They dont just “feel” oppressed, they are.
Many people use VPNs and use overseas services. The primary purpose of the "Great Firewall" appears to be erecting a technological barrier to entry, protecting the culture of average people who don't require that sort of access for business.