If a society permits one portion of its citizenry to be menaced or destroyed, then, very soon, no one in that society is safe. The forces thus released in the people can never be held in check, but run their devouring course, destroying the very foundations which it was imagined they would save. James Baldwin
I have to travel for my job this spring and I am already nervously anticipating airline security theater. I will try to avoid the scanners if I can, but I don't think I will opt-out if given the choice. This is because I follow The Daily Patdown regularly and I honestly think that if a TSA agent touches me as one did this gentleman, I might lose it. Of course, the entire purpose of these enhanced pat-downs it to compel airline passengers to get into the porno-scanners. And the purpose of the porno-scanners is to serve as a cashcow for the security-industrial-complex. The fact this is so obvious truly infuriates me. When I hear Janet Napolitano or John Pistole argue that such measures are necessary for our safety, I find myself filled with a fiery rage that each day threatens to erode what remains of my humanity that I've been able to preserve in spite of constant assaults the by State.
Why does this enrage me, you ask? Because I have a hard time believing that Pistole and Napalitano truly believe the bullshit they spew. I have hard time believing that they themselves honestly think their dictates keep the American people safe. The holes in security are obvious to anyone who wishes to see them. Recently a pilot videotaped some of these holes and the response of the government was to disarm the pilot and investigate him. So it is very, very clear that the purpose of the TSA is airline security theater. And I would feel less rage if Pistole and Napolitano were honest about their true goals: that they are fascist tyrants who want to control our lives and order us around like beasts of burden. But they would never say anything like this. I understand why, of course. Being that obvious might tip off most of the slaves. Yet these ridiculous and false cries of security and safety truly insult my intelligence and I hate that. But I digress.
Given that the media attention to the opponents of the TSA has dissipated, I continue to wonder if the TSA can be defeated. Not rolled back, not reformed, not changed, but actually abolished in my lifetime. I have reason to doubt this.
First, we must realize that as a tentacle of the Leviathan State, the TSA is not dependent on security fees in airline tickets for revenue. Even if airlines lose passengers, the TSA can always receive funding from Congress.
Second, the airline industry has little to no incentive to fight for its passengers. The airline industry is inured to government control. The industry has no problem allowing the government to run airline security because that means that it does not have to pay for security. Airlines can always blame the government if passengers have horrible experiences going through security. Moreover, many airline companies work closely with the State to pass regulations keeping competitors out of their markets. Many were bailed out after the 9/11 attacks. Thus, the airline industry has little incentive to challenge the Federal Government. And even though fewer passengers are flying, airlines are staying profitable by raising various fees like baggage and flight-change fees, and flying fewer flights. Thus, airlines will continue to acquiesce to the Federal Government until it becomes unprofitable and that could for years. The airlines would probably ask the Federal Government for another bailout before actually sticking up for the passengers.
Third, it is clear to me that neither Napolitano nor Pistole are going to back down. They, along with Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, are probably the most fascist tyrants in the entire U.S. Government. Neither of these people appears to care about the people whose lives they ruin in the process of "protecting the nation". And as I mentioned earlier, I don't think that they really believe that they are protecting the nation. They have almost unlimited power and they use it at will to control us. Control and submission are their ultimate goals. People this corrupt do not just back down and they do not give up their power easily. They become addicted to their power and wield it like a sledge hammer. Any so-called terrorist threat, no matter how remote or imaginary, becomes the raison d'être for a new security technique that will make us "safe" by controlling our behavior.
Fourth, the people who work for the TSA are not going to stop implementing their bosses' plans. This is because the four types of people who work as TSA agents have no incentive to rebel or disobey. The first type of TSA agent is the person who enjoys barking orders and humiliating his fellow citizens. The second type is the sexual pervert who realizes that he can now molest people, engage in voyeurism securely, and not worry about being arrested. The third type is the person who just wants a paycheck, but has no ethics. He just obeys his orders mindlessly, no matter what they are. And the fourth type who probably composes the majority are weak-minded men and women who genuinely believe that they are serving the country and protecting America. These people are utterly convinced that what they are doing is a patriotic service and they do not understand why they are so harshly criticized by the general public. They may not like touching people inappropriately and they might even admit that what they are doing would be a crime in another setting. But because their god, the State, has deemed this activity necessary for safety, they will fondle the American public as an act of worship to their god. These are the people who are the most problematic because they believe that they are doing the right thing and their conscience confirms this to them.
In my opinion these four obstacles cannot be overcome in the short- and medium-term future. The TSA has proven itself savvy in navigating public opinion. The day before Thanksgiving was designated Opt-Out Day. It's organizers hoped that all passengers would opt-out of the scanners to endure the pat-down. They hoped that could draw attention to both the scanners and the enhanced pat-down procedures and persuade the American public to resist the TSA in mass. But on that the day the TSA simply shut-down the scanners and put everyone through the x-ray machines. On the one hand, the TSA revealed that the scanners and pat-downs were no necessary for security. If they really were and the TSA were truly committed to security on the busiest airline day of the year, the TSA agents would have just endured thousands of pat-downs. But the TSA chose not to ignite what might have been a conflagration of hatred toward the agency that might have led to its abolition or at least truly weakened its power. Instead the TSA diffused this bomb and the media then reported Opt-Out Day as a failure. This proves to me that the TSA is determined to keep us under control, even if it has to relax its policies a day or two. What's giving up one day when the agency can control airline passengers (and now bus and train passengers) on the remaining 364 days of the year.
However, I do believe that the TSA will eventually be defeated as will the entire U.S. Government. I believe that arrogance and corruption of our leaders will eventually become too much for the masses to endure. They will realize that they are slaves. They will realize that their futures have been destroyed by taxes, war, regulations, government debt, and paper money. The State will do its best to stay in power, but its days are numbered. My hope is that when the masses realize this, that they not lay hands upon the tyrants who are ruining their lives. Violence will only ensure that the State-mindset will remain. If the the current crop of criminals are ousted, then another crop of criminals will appear to take their place. As long as the masses still have the mindset that a State is necessary, there will always be a void that can be filled by criminals willing to act as the State.
What I do hope, however, is that the masses will listen to Etienne de la Boetie:
Resolve to serve no more, and you are at once freed. I do not ask that you place hands upon the tyrant to topple him over, but simply that you support him no longer; then you will behold him, like a great Colossus whose pedestal has been pulled away, fall of his own weight and break into pieces.
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