Many people, even those who are non-assuming, find themselves on lists. People like myself, who hold leftist views that challenge the status quo, are often targeted for our political affiliations and organizing efforts. We are just people seeking dignity, but as we’ve seen with the CIA’s infiltration of the Black Panthers, BLM (the Alphabet Boys podcast does a great job covering the infiltration of BLM and the dangerous meddling), and Antifa, as well as agents within my own political party, it’s clear that surveillance is less about combating terrorism and more about breaking apart political movements.

While counterterrorism efforts have been successful in quashing actual terrorism, they are more often used to crack down on leftist movements. As revolutionary fervor rises in the future, we will likely see surveillance and infiltration used even more indiscriminately.

So to answer the question, surveillance is a safety net that allows the greedy minority to sleep soundly at night.