To both of your points, I think there are two different scenarios for which there are two very different answers.
For the those who are concerned about mass surveillance, tracking, etc, the fact that those of us who can view activity or block things don't see suspicious traffic is almost as valuable as doing it yourself. Kinda the same "many eyes" theory that applies to malicious code in open source, even if you can't check it yourself you benefit from those who can existing.
For those who are concerned about being the specific target of a government or major data company, if you don't have all the skills you're probably best off living like it's 1995.
For the those who are concerned about mass surveillance, tracking, etc, the fact that those of us who can view activity or block things don't see suspicious traffic is almost as valuable as doing it yourself. Kinda the same "many eyes" theory that applies to malicious code in open source, even if you can't check it yourself you benefit from those who can existing.
For those who are concerned about being the specific target of a government or major data company, if you don't have all the skills you're probably best off living like it's 1995.