Privacy bolsters your ability to not ask permission from a more powerful force. It's an asymmetric advantage. If they know who you are and what you're doing they can use force to stop you. It's not about being "scared". Fearlessness plays no role in whether you can be stopped or not. It's not that difficult to understand.
Cypherpunks central focus was on privacy. It's ignorace or mental gymnastics to downplay that.