I don’t know if it’s complete fearmongering to imagine a scenario in the future where chemical or biological weapons are easier to manufacture and therefore execute attacks. Hundreds of people died in Europe last year due to terrorist attacks, and compared to where our species will eventually be, many of the technologies used in these attacks are still in their infancy. The world may evolve, but the scriptures that evangelize future jihadists won’t, so the incentive to be a martyr will always exist. I just looked it up and Europe has a very bad track record at stopping attacks—of 54 planned terrorist attacks in 2024 only 19 were averted by intelligence. 35 were carried out successfully. The threat may come from factions other than just jihadists in the future, too. I agree that this is not something we have to worry about now, which is why I stated that I’m hypothesizing in the original comment. But I think it’s a bit less far fetched than a near term alien invasion :-)
The ultimate surveillance state cannot keep you ultimately safe.
When any of that happens I'm happy to have this debate. I will be very sad that we have to live in that world, but I'll take it if the alternative is "we all die." But building a surveillance state today in an environment where violent crime seems to be at historic lows across the first world, that just seems incredibly dumb. Let's not.
This concept already exists. It has for centuries. It's called war.