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Dragnet surveillance just makes me paranoid, and my intuition is that it stifles, rather than accelerates, innovation --- well, except for the cryptography aspect; there is plenty of movement towards resisting the surveillance state(s) on that front.
Your opinion could be summarized as, "it's a dirty job but someone's gotta do it" --- when in fact, no one has to do it. Doing so just leads to Cold War-style arms races.
One of my favorite quotes from a simpler time: "Gentlemen do not read each others' mail." -- Henry L. Stimson
I largely agree, but when anything provides significant advantages, somebody will do it. You don't have to be the one initiating the arms race but once it's happening, you can't ignore it. I'm don't believe that the stifling side-effects of surveillance (of your own population; obviously, world-wide surveillance provides a large benefit to the US) outweigh the benefits, so it's probably a net loss, but that's close to impossible to quantify.
As for the quote, it may depend on experiences and the personal background how you understand it. To me it reads as "but it's fine to read the peasant's mail", just as two generals would make sure not to harm each other in a battle, but have no issue sending their soldiers to their death.