Tuesday, November 30, 2010

The Right to Privacy

Ever since 911 we have seen our rights eroded. We were told that we were essentially on a war footing and needed to have increased security measures. A shocked nation allowed these measures to become permanent: warrant-less wiretaps, the patriot act and airport "security" screening.

Little by little our rights have been trampled upon in the name of safety. The airport security theater started with banning potential weapons on airplanes: box cutters, scissors, nail clippers. It has since morphed many times over and is as useful as the terror level color code.

First of all, these measures do not increase safety. A determined person will always find a way to cause carnage. I do not think we should make it easy for them but we have to be careful not to lose our souls in the process. Since we began to treat people like guilty parties; with x-rays, metal detectors and pat-downs we have lost a little of ourselves.

The second is that we are always reacting to the last action rather than considering our policies as a whole. An idiot puts explosives in his shoes, so we are asked to remove our shoes. Another idiot tries to mix liquid explosives, nearly blows his face off, now I can't even board with a cup of coffee.

Now that a dude packed his shorts with C4 or whatever we have the pleasure of groping and body scanners. As a free society we can never be completely safe; it is in the nature and the trade-off we must make. The determined saboteur will find a way: things hidden in cavities, explosives in the under carriage and whatever else sick people like that consider.

Some people seem to believe that we are never gonna get anywhere unless we treat the U.S. like a max security prison, however, contraband can be found in even the most secure lock-ups. If we cannot police and control prisoners, who have given up all of their rights as citizens, how can we expect to do better with regular Joes?

"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized. "

In others words, "don't touch my junk."

1 comment:

L BO said...

you're clearly not thinking of the advantages here. TSA will be hiring cheerleaders and models most likely to do the feel ups. And, I have a new intro to the porn I'm shooting. Everyone thinks about how sexy the mile high club is, but what about the cavity search room?