I actually trust the "small groups of elites, billionaires, and state actors who have the monopoly on violence" over "all of collective humanity". The people with power want to hold on to power - and they've been doing it very well. Generally speaking, it's in their best interest for the world to not go to total shit, and they work hard to have it that way whilst holding on to what they have. It's the disenfranchised that are far more likely to want to have mutually assured destruction.

I think the general public should not be conflated with 'collective humanity' - it's more like... many pockets of people, some well organized, some not so much. They're not all necessarily working together; we all have our own agendas.

Also, it's very much the asymmetry of offensive vs defensive capabilities that's extremely concerning. A disgruntled, mentally unstable backyard biologist spewing out potentially world-shaking viruses is not something I'm comfortable with. At least when the elites do it, they'll have the antidote ready to sell us (fingers crossed).