Edward Snowden said something interesting few days ago that money must be private by default, and that should not be illegal anywhere.
And I absolutely agree with him. If we want privacy to be an integral part of our transactions, it needs to be available by default, across all wallet software; not optionally, expensively and even questionably effectively. All of the Bitcoin users who claim ourselves as pro-privacy and inspired by the cypherpunks, should opt-out to Monero, otherwise we're being dishonest to ourselves. There's a neighbour network that operates exactly as envisioned, respecting the fundamentals of cryptocurrency.
The only obstacle I see is our greed / risk / call it whatever you like, that Bitcoin will appreciate more in value than Monero.
To create the kind of economy we want to create, there can be no perceivable connection to their economy. For now, that is the only way to remain private.
But, what kind of economy do we want to create? One that's underground, or one that will reshape the current system as a result of its own collapse? We cannot realistically move forwards in terms of privacy if the merchants are afraid of being punished by the state for using privacy-respecting software.