Here’s a very quick introduction to the discussion about how security can mean trading away some liberty, but that TSA takes away the choice completely. To have such broad concepts broken down into 2 minutes, I like it.
(h/t Gary Leff)
3 thoughts on “Trading Liberty for Security”
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He gets one point backward. He cites the example of banning all flight as a way to have total security against terrorist attacks on flights. He seems to imply this is an extreme example illustrating his point.
In fact, most Americans have chosen not to fly at all. The TSA has indeed banned us from flying, because the price (in terms of invasion of privacy and threat of persecution) is too high.
Great points. Sadly many Americans are quite comfortable with giving up their rights to gain something, be it first Amendment violations like permits to peaceably assemble, the various gun control laws that tax and restrict the Second Amendment, or the huge number of 4th Amendment violations under the “War on Drugs” and “War on Terror”.
I find I get a better response when talking about this cost/benefit analysis. The TSA costs huge money, and massive indignities, not to mention the looming specter of cancer from all the radiation they’re spraying through those terminals now.
And for what? What have they stopped? What Terrorists have been captured?
And the attacks we have received since the formation (thankfully none successful) all were screened AND CLEARED.
If something doesn’t work, but still costs us, we’d be better without it.
Yup, not only has the TSA decided to trade all liberty and privacy for security, they’re not even GOOD at security. Every time they’ve sent through test guns and bombs, they went undetected.
So obviously the solution is to do it harder =P