The recent revelations about the National Security Agency’s surveillance programs came as a shock for much of the nation. But here’s the thing about my so-called “millennial” generation: We’ve known all along that we’re being watched.

We never really think about it — but deep down, intuitively, we know it. We crack wise about it: A college classmate of mine who was conducting research on international terrorism commented that at this rate, the FBI would soon be knocking on her door. We see the results of data mining in online advertisements that are precisely tailored to our interests. We have a vague sense of the “creepiness” of all of this, but we grudgingly acquiesce. These changes, we tend to conclude, are beyond us; we cannot stop the inevitable.

It’s part of the world we were born into. People my age have no real concept of a pre-PATRIOT Act America. Wiretapping has been part of the public discourse since we hit puberty. We’ve come to understand that government surveillance is par for the course.

It’s time for us to wake up. Last week we found out that the government was collecting our phone records. We’ve since learned that the NSA has access to everything — our emails, voice chats, videos, photos and the rest — taken straight from the servers of our daily cocktail of websites. We’re living in a country with the electronic infrastructure of a police state — and it’s only getting worse.

Edward Snowden, the NSA leaker, is one of us. Only 29 years old, Snowden grew up in the same media-saturated world. But he decided to jeopardize his personal security to bring what he discovered to the public. We all have a similar decision to make between speaking up and staying silent. Thus far, we’ve remained quiet.

Perhaps our political system has disillusioned us. Having grown up as witnesses to a series of bitter elections and a generally toxic and partisan Congress, we’ve become skeptical of any potential for real change.

But privacy is one of the few things that conservatives and liberals agree on. Senators Rand Paul and Bernie Sanders, politicians on opposite ends of the political spectrum, both spoke out against the NSA’s surveillance programs. Dianne Feinstein and Saxby Chambliss, on the other hand, both defended it. This issue has the potential to transcend the partisanship we’ve all grown to hate.

Perhaps we've also been placated by the good vibes that emanate from Silicon Valley companies like Google, the feeling that these companies are dedicated to social welfare and the public good. We love the Internet, and we love the companies that have made sense of it. But Google’s “don’t be evil” motto doesn’t mean much in light of the company’s cooperation with the NSA’s PRISM program.

We’ve been quiet for all our lives, but now it’s time for us to make some noise. If Snowden has demonstrated anything, it’s that we don’t have to take the erosion of our privacy sitting down. If we remain silent, refreshing our Facebook pages while waiting for the story to go away by itself, we’ll have failed our nation and the world.

First we need to educate ourselves about what’s been going on and why this issue is so important. Then we need to speak up. We should tell Congress to investigate the NSA’s surveillance programs. We should call our elected representatives and let them know we find the programs unacceptable. We should spread the word and get those close to us to do the same.

This is our chance to define our future. We’d best not sleep through it.

Click here to tell Congress to reveal the full extent of the NSA’s spying programs.

Original photo by Flickr user Ed Yourdon