While you were describing the "run in circles around us" people I was "wow, that's me". Not to brag, mind you, I've spent most my life trying to be inconspicuous but to no avail really (things just comes natural to me and it's not easy when there's so much hatred for "smart asses"). Althou I did score way high in IQ tests when I was a boy, as did my little brother years after, I am able to harness my potential without trying (yeah, I'm lazy and I still show off even when I try hard not to). The only difference between me and my brother was my teacher. Her daughter was a psychologist and, from what my mom tells me, my teacher confided with her daughter regarding the difficulty she had handling me (I was a little devil). For all purposes I was seen as hyperactive... Until her daughter started giving her advice, telling her to give me specific homework to stimulate me. In 3 months I went from her worst student to her most successful one. I caught up with everyone else in class and surpassed them. All thanks to my teacher and her daughter.

Even now, all my success in life I have to thank them, who trained my capacities. They had me do memory exercises, creativity exercises, discipline myself... I can correlate things that to most seems impossible and almost all the time they are correct. So my IQ might be a factor or may not (mind you, I mentioned my little brother has having roughly the same scored IQ as I, but he lacks the capacities I have today and demonstrated to have since I was in 1st grade), but what I do know is that my training while a child, in those 4 years with that teacher, were without a doubt the reason why I am able to perform so well even today (without or without those capacities to start with).

On the other hand, if you're really that good, just take some vacations and make yourself notice (or rather, your absence). Took 3 weeks in a row a couple of years ago, and my boss plead not to take so many days again.

Oh, and no, I'm not a coder, but what he wrote was quite familiar.

It's quite simple (at least from my PoV):

1) People are concerned about several things, not only (or not at all) data retention/online privacy, but with social and economical problems (and a more complete political "project"... I do identify with PP concerns, but I have more topics of concern then the ones that PP has, and I give more importance to those concerns on my daily life... I wouldn't just cast my vote because I agree with some of the points a party makes, I would need to identify with the more importante topics, and weight the ones I disagree against what I find acceptable versus the ones I do agree).

2) In times of crisis the votes tend to be more right winged (SWE wasn't an exception).

3) Usually the European Election is used by the voters to punish the governing party in their countries.

4) And it's not only SWE. Most countries have their own "PP", in a way or another. One of those parties might endorse lower taxes, another might go against the CAP (Common Agricultural Policy), etc.. The point is, those parties aren't suppose to be taken seriously (serious in a sense that none expects they'll have an huge representation), and the ones who vote for them usually know that. People usually vote for them so there's a lobbying party for those subjects, or just to "annoy" the more "tradicional" parties, or lack of a choice that they identify with.

Most EU countries do take (the possibility of) governmental spying serious. It's in terms of perception that things differ. I can say that at least in one of the countries where the system is being put in place is actually quite safe (I work for one ISP that's rolling out a data retention system to abide the new legislation). In terms of legislation, no customer data can be cross referenced during the investigation phase (initial phase, until there's enough evidence for an indictment, and for an investigation to take place, to access the data, it needs court approval), so that protects the identity of whoever data was requested.

Well, since we're talking about EU, that's not completely true.
Copyright, in some of the state members, falls under civil law (not without controversy). Going further more, copyright infrigement, in Portugal for example, is considered a public crime (unless it has been authorized by the authors, and in that case wouldn't be copyright infringement anyway), so there's no need for the copyright holder to press charges or sue (and can't even settle for an agreement for that matter).
Even in the name given to it there's some pointers: you call it copyright, in EU it's commonly refered to Authors Rights.

According to TFA, you're missing about 400 million reasons on why it is better.