KPC BFF Will Wilkinson writes a useful article on the idiot docility of the American public: the government says it needs to rub its hands on our tingly bits, so it must be necessary, line up, don't make trouble!
Some time ago, I tried to come up with the best explanation I could think of on the positive side: costly signals.
But that doesn't really explain our long term acceptance of this pointless abuse. Especially since a guy can get on a plane after his dad calls to warn authorities, and then all they want to do is "interview" him after the plane lands.
Here's one I don't get: I was waiting to pick up Tyler C., at the RDU airport. I was told I could not leave the car for even 30 seconds. I could wait in the parked car for three minutes, and then I had to circle the airport and come back. I did that three times. May I ask you: Why? There has never, ever been an attack on an airport, from the outside. Is the reasoning that there were some attacks during flights, flights imply airplanes, airplanes land at airports, and my car was parked at an airport? The drop-off lane where I was meeting Tyler was empty, no people around except me and the cop; no terrorist would pick that place for bomb attack. As we know, it is easy to drive a truck full of explosives to Times Square, or some other densely populated area, yet there is no security there at all. (Nor should there be, given the odds of an attack are still pretty much zero).
So why do the airport cops outside, and the TSA inside, make us jump and dance and obey? Because they can, folks. Because they can. And we all just say, "Please! Sir! May I have another!"
(Nod to @MsCourt)
9 comments:
I understand a similar policy at, e.g., Dulles Airport where it's constantly busy and they really want people to wait somewhere else instead of staying there for a long time.
But RDU, when it's empty?
It would be useful to know, exactly, how many terrorists have been intercepted at TSA checkpoints. Exactly how many bombs have been found by 'pat downs'? How many definite threats to airplane safety have been thwarted by the TSA? I'd wager that the answer is ZERO. I challenge anyone to prove me wrong.
For the record it's simply untrue, that there has never been an attack on an airport, from the outside. There was the near simultaneous attacks on the Rome and Vienna airports in 1985. There was that dude at LAX back in 2002. And in 2007 there was that incident were a Jeep Cherokee loaded with propane canisters was driven into the glass doors of the Glasgow International Airport terminal and set ablaze. I'd be willing to bet that there have been other such attacks.
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Your Times Square example is a poor choice.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/02/nyregion/02timessquare.html
Ignoring the realities of terrorism does not strengthen your case.
Not letting you out of your car for more than a few seconds has nothing to do with safety & everything to do with wanting you to pay $10 an hour for parking.
It's the Price of Freedom: http://blog.mises.org/14617/god-bless-the-tsa/
Actually, Anonymous at 12:09 is incorrect. At RDU, hourly parking is a mere $1/hour, and I believe they let you go free if you're there less than a half-hour.
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