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Privacy is necessary for an open society in the electronic age - Eric Hughes
The electronic age led to centralization and created powerful middlemen (agents). These agents had opportunities to abuse principals through surveillence or censhorship.
Cypherpunks emerged in the late 1980s as a loosely organized community of technologists, cryptographers, and privacy advocates. They believed that privacy is essential for a free society and that individuals should use strong cryptography to protect personal data.
Cryptography did increase privacy, but did not fully solve the agency problem. Crytographic only solutions did not easily scale without a middleman. The final solution required one more piece ... continued.