I agree it's dangerous not only for civil society, but also against other nation states. I have wondered why the TLAs seem enamored of this sort of anti-encryption legislation (since presumably they are the likely only technical enough members to write and promote it). My best guess is not that they "hate freedom" or that they are "compromised agents of a foreign power", but simply that they are fighting the last battle. The older cold war generation has retired, and people in positions of power within the TLAs are simply so consumed by foreign terrorist threats, that they aren't thinking about the fact that if they can read (and forge) these communications, then so can our geopolitical adversaries. Furthermore, the possible disruption of our entire economic (banking) and political system are made possible by such a vulnerability.