Obviously in these dangerous times, we must take precautions against those who would do us harm, like blow us up in the air. The question is how to do that in the most efficient way while preserving the privacy and dignity of passengers. Luggage has no right to privacy but people do.
I'm certain that most of us can offer suggestions about improving this abomination. But we shouldn't be thinking of how to improve it but ways to abolish it. The fears that required some action in the first place have to be examined. Why are we afraid and who caused that fear. We're afraid because we don't want to die and the people who want to kill us are almost exclusively young, fanatic, Arab Muslims. It would make sense to most people that our primary concern should be about persons of that description but that has a dirty name, profiling.
Profiling is said to be a discriminatory practice. If the profiling criteria is limited, it may be, but when the profile contains all the known characteristics of a person who may behave in a particular way, that's called judgement. When a person is body searched, the searcher is looking for something that shouldn't be there. Profiling does the same thing.
Our system of screening passengers is objectionable, inefficient and expensive. Honest people must endure the inconvenience and often humiliation of this type of screening not for thoroughness but because some government officials fear being accused of discriminatory practices. Their concern is more for the potential guilty than for the obvious innocents. We all should be discriminating in many matters of everyday life, why not for our safety? Profiling for example is a relative of gambling because it asks, "What are the odds?" What are the odds of a child or older person being a terrorist compared to a 20 year old, male Arab? The perfect solution is as rediculoous as the current one. Send all luggage a day ahead on UPS or FEDX and have everyone fly naked.
My conclusion on the subject is that the personal screening we endure is not for safety reasons but for the political correctness of subjecting everyone to the same procedure so the real suspects will not be offended. Who doubts, in spite all our efforts, that a serious terrorist could still circumvent our process? Who believes that with thousands of people involved in airport security that some of them would not be susceptible to bribery, intimidation, either personal or involving their family or be terrorists themselves? What a shame.
I'm certain that most of us can offer suggestions about improving this abomination. But we shouldn't be thinking of how to improve it but ways to abolish it. The fears that required some action in the first place have to be examined. Why are we afraid and who caused that fear. We're afraid because we don't want to die and the people who want to kill us are almost exclusively young, fanatic, Arab Muslims. It would make sense to most people that our primary concern should be about persons of that description but that has a dirty name, profiling.
Profiling is said to be a discriminatory practice. If the profiling criteria is limited, it may be, but when the profile contains all the known characteristics of a person who may behave in a particular way, that's called judgement. When a person is body searched, the searcher is looking for something that shouldn't be there. Profiling does the same thing.
Our system of screening passengers is objectionable, inefficient and expensive. Honest people must endure the inconvenience and often humiliation of this type of screening not for thoroughness but because some government officials fear being accused of discriminatory practices. Their concern is more for the potential guilty than for the obvious innocents. We all should be discriminating in many matters of everyday life, why not for our safety? Profiling for example is a relative of gambling because it asks, "What are the odds?" What are the odds of a child or older person being a terrorist compared to a 20 year old, male Arab? The perfect solution is as rediculoous as the current one. Send all luggage a day ahead on UPS or FEDX and have everyone fly naked.
My conclusion on the subject is that the personal screening we endure is not for safety reasons but for the political correctness of subjecting everyone to the same procedure so the real suspects will not be offended. Who doubts, in spite all our efforts, that a serious terrorist could still circumvent our process? Who believes that with thousands of people involved in airport security that some of them would not be susceptible to bribery, intimidation, either personal or involving their family or be terrorists themselves? What a shame.
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