A social commentary for some reason

I'm my own moderator here, bam! I really shouldn't have read this article because now I've waded into this stupid debate.

In reference to this: http://www.sovereignman.com/expat/tip-of-the-spear/

Maybe Sovereign man should use his sovereignty to use a car/bus/train if he doesn't like the TSA's tactics. I mean, freedom is his ultimate cause, no?

I think this guy has such a narrow view of the world to make assumptions the gover-boogey man is out to get him. And though the TSA and other government agencies like them might act overly paranoid, so is the fear that your country is going to turn into 1984.

Look at it rationally. The US went through a major terrorist act (as have others) and their government has been blamed for it, to an extent. And now other threats of shoe bombers and crotch bombers et al have appeared. If we make a simple assumption that no government wants a major terrorist act on their watch, then of course they are going to inconvenience everyone for that sake.

Having worked in the airport security industry, I know something that most people don't. There is a huge side-effect of even demonstrating that security principles are in place even if they aren't accomplishing anything. Despite "the fact is that body scanners are as ineffective at threat detection as metal detectors" (is this just common knowledge or is he an expert?), even if x-ray machines (for baggage or for people) were just showing re-runs of Alf to the operators, they would still be a huge deterrent to anyone who is planning a terrorist act. If your goal was to blow up or hijack a plane, and you thought you would be caught going through security, then it obviously wouldn't be smart doing it; your goal wouldn't be accomplished and you would be putting your group at risk. So the TSA isn't actually worried about a 5 year old girl being a terrorist, but by demonstrating security principles that show that even she could/would be caught, then this adds a layer of deterrence to those would-be terrorists.

Has anyone in this debate considered how many people would still fly if they dropped airport security all together? Does that appeal to the crowd that is now so anti-TSA? Let's turn the security knob back down to 0, where maybe it was in the 40's or 50's (don't know, assuming it was close to 0). Paranoia would go sky high. If a muslim stepped on a plane everyone would clear ship. Airlines would go under.

Do we really think the government would have changed security principles from pre-911 if the past decade's terrorist threats didn't happen? At what point can Americans blame terrorists for acting to diminish their rights? The government trying to protect its citizens and businesses is the only one to blame here? Come on.

If someone wants to complain about the ratcheted up security principles that are in place, fine. That is their right. The government acknowledges that right. They still have the right to vote along a line that run counters to the TSAs current principles. And they still have the right to not fly. If Americans want less intrusiveness in their airport security, I can understand that. I just don't get the paranoia over the US turning into a police state where you can't take a dump without being asked for ID. The cause and effect relationship on this topic seems to have completely been thrown out the window.

Americans can look around them and find hundreds of examples where government regulation takes place and where it benefits them and adds to their freedom. Freedom to drive on roads and have working power for appliances that don't short circuit and freedom to know their houses aren't going to cave in on them and that their gas lines aren't going to explode and that they're not on the hook to put out a fire. I don't see how there's enough hours in the day to have to worry about all the things the government does if it wasn't there.

So if more government and more regulation and more security is a bad thing, at what point does less of these things become a bad thing? That's something that has never been made clear to me.