I'm wondering why hasn't Monero taken off yet? Do you think government regulations have affected Monero's ability to go higher in price? If not, then what could be the reason? Is Monero a good long-term investment? Or are there better choices on the market (besides Bitcoin and Ethereum)? Your input will be greatly appreciated. Thank you. 
It also depend on the demand of thr project in my opinion. If monero doesnt taken off yet that is because there are not enough hype or news that could bring it high. If a project has been talk of the town then surely it has a price movement being seen. I dont think the government can influence about its price. Its more like should be question about if institutions or whales are still gonna be interested with it.Lets face it. Some geek or techwise who holds this coin arent deep pocketed enough, it still depends on whales. Without whales who can move it the price will move slowly.
Yes probably the majority of people holding or even using Monero have a better sense for privacy and surveillance related issues. I could imagine that a decent number of people using Monero don't use social media because they are understand what social media, how it is used and how it undermines private data.
A huge scandal about fiat systems or even about normal cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin would certainly lead to Monero blowing up. Someone who is new to the whole scene usually buys Bitcoin first and then starts studying the different cryptocurrencies and their purposes. Most first find out about all the other fancy coins with a certain function that sounds cool.