To protect against those pesky “hackers” that want to steal your information at public wifi?

Nah. Enable HTTPS-Only mode and VOILA! (Make sure to x out of browsers the moment you see a warning screen)

To post “I HATE [Insert Name of Country Leader] and I hope he/she dies and go to hell!” on a forum?

Hell fucking yes. Especially if you are in an authoritarian country. Use both VPN and Tor, don’t use real names. Even in democratic countries, still use VPN, since power is always shifting. What’s legal today might not be legal tomorrow.