It's just senseless...
So I was flying recently. As I sat in the airport in the meet/greet area preceeding the security line with my wife, I reflected on the utter stupidity of some of the post-9/11 security measures we have adopted. Or more appropriately, the government has adopted for us.
How is anyone more safe because my wife cannot proceed through the security checkpoint to tell me goodbye at the gate? Is there something inherently safe about showing your ID to someone, walking twenty yards, and then showing it to someone else who watched the first person check it?
No! (Obviously.) We now have to deal with a dozen idiotic (not to mention inconvenient) "security measures" for one simple reason: the government wants to show us how proactive they are in ensuring our safety.
Hey, I've got an idea. How about you leave the insurance of my safety to someone who actually cares about it - me. How about you cease to strip me of my rights and allow me the means to protect me & mine?
How many planes would have crashed on September 11th if the passengers would have been armed?
Goodness, I can just see the liberals and the antis all up in a flutter over that one. "Armed passengers?! Are you crazy!?!"
If it wasn't so sad, it'd be funny. The one thing we could do to actually prevent another 9/11 is just too radical for anyone to stomach. No one even bothers to think about it because we're all programmed to surrender our duty to defend ourselves to the government.
"Let passengers have guns? No way! They might hurt someone! We have to be responsible about this. We have to make reasonable choices and not react in the heat of the moment."
Hell, the nanny-staters don't even want pilots to have guns! (I guess a uniform doesn't make you professional enough - must be the badge, heh heh.) So rather than man up and accept the reality that what works isn't always warm and fuzzy, we wring our hands and make air travel a labyrinth of administrative hell. "Well, we've taken some reasonable and responsible precautions to ensure that this doesn't happen again."
Oh yes. Reasonable and responsible choices. (nodding emphatically) Like more ticket checks and less accessibility to the gates. (more nodding) That will stop a fanatic who is willing to trade his life to accomplish a mission. (vigorous nodding)
We need John Wayne and we've hired the friggin PTA.
My viewpoint on this issue may not be popular, but I'm not entirely alone. I got this article from Reason. It's a good read. It addresses some of the idiocy we must endure at the airport (and why.)
The reality is that when people want to kill you, you have to be ready to kill them back. And when the government strips you of your right to self defense - regardless of the circumstances - that is irresponsible.
How is anyone more safe because my wife cannot proceed through the security checkpoint to tell me goodbye at the gate? Is there something inherently safe about showing your ID to someone, walking twenty yards, and then showing it to someone else who watched the first person check it?
No! (Obviously.) We now have to deal with a dozen idiotic (not to mention inconvenient) "security measures" for one simple reason: the government wants to show us how proactive they are in ensuring our safety.
Hey, I've got an idea. How about you leave the insurance of my safety to someone who actually cares about it - me. How about you cease to strip me of my rights and allow me the means to protect me & mine?
How many planes would have crashed on September 11th if the passengers would have been armed?
Goodness, I can just see the liberals and the antis all up in a flutter over that one. "Armed passengers?! Are you crazy!?!"
If it wasn't so sad, it'd be funny. The one thing we could do to actually prevent another 9/11 is just too radical for anyone to stomach. No one even bothers to think about it because we're all programmed to surrender our duty to defend ourselves to the government.
"Let passengers have guns? No way! They might hurt someone! We have to be responsible about this. We have to make reasonable choices and not react in the heat of the moment."
Hell, the nanny-staters don't even want pilots to have guns! (I guess a uniform doesn't make you professional enough - must be the badge, heh heh.) So rather than man up and accept the reality that what works isn't always warm and fuzzy, we wring our hands and make air travel a labyrinth of administrative hell. "Well, we've taken some reasonable and responsible precautions to ensure that this doesn't happen again."
Oh yes. Reasonable and responsible choices. (nodding emphatically) Like more ticket checks and less accessibility to the gates. (more nodding) That will stop a fanatic who is willing to trade his life to accomplish a mission. (vigorous nodding)
We need John Wayne and we've hired the friggin PTA.
My viewpoint on this issue may not be popular, but I'm not entirely alone. I got this article from Reason. It's a good read. It addresses some of the idiocy we must endure at the airport (and why.)
The reality is that when people want to kill you, you have to be ready to kill them back. And when the government strips you of your right to self defense - regardless of the circumstances - that is irresponsible.
posted by M1Thumb at 9:53 PM
2 Comments:
I was saying that in the 70's when air hijackings were at their peak. I still haven't lived down the stigma of being fringe lunatic. When the majority are crazy the sane man must appear insane.
I was saying that in the 70's when air hijackings were at their peak. I still haven't lived down the stigma of being fringe lunatic. When the majority are crazy the sane man must appear insane.
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