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Security Theater
Oct. 20th, 2008 06:46 pmJeffrey Goldberg writes about his adventures as he tries to breach the perimeter of Airport Security. Well, OK, perhaps "breach the perimeter" is too strong a phrase. Perhaps "see if there's any way to get caught" might be more accurate.
http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200811/airport-security/
I think he's got one thing wrong, and it's a fundamental difference which would explain what's going on. It's not that airport security is so bad because TSA tries but fails, it's because they really don't care about actual safety.
There are two goals of TSA, and the Office of Homeland Security in general, and it accomplishes them both admirably (if that's the right word) well:
1. Remind you to be afraid. The goal isn't to make you feel safe. They have to be very obvious and inconvenient because otherwise you'll get used to it and forget that There Are Terrorists Out There Who Want to Kill You ((TM), (c) U.S. Department of Homeland Security).
2. Divert many billions of dollars from U.S. taxes into the private accounts of a very few very wealthy individuals. (And pay for expensive vacations for the top people at DHS as well, of course.)
These are, ever since it first conceived back near the end of the 20th century, the only goals that DHS has ever held, and the only two that it has ever succeeded at.
http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200811/airport-security/
I think he's got one thing wrong, and it's a fundamental difference which would explain what's going on. It's not that airport security is so bad because TSA tries but fails, it's because they really don't care about actual safety.
There are two goals of TSA, and the Office of Homeland Security in general, and it accomplishes them both admirably (if that's the right word) well:
1. Remind you to be afraid. The goal isn't to make you feel safe. They have to be very obvious and inconvenient because otherwise you'll get used to it and forget that There Are Terrorists Out There Who Want to Kill You ((TM), (c) U.S. Department of Homeland Security).
2. Divert many billions of dollars from U.S. taxes into the private accounts of a very few very wealthy individuals. (And pay for expensive vacations for the top people at DHS as well, of course.)
These are, ever since it first conceived back near the end of the 20th century, the only goals that DHS has ever held, and the only two that it has ever succeeded at.
