“They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security, deserve neither liberty or security.”
-Benjamin Franklin

“The average man does not want to be free. He simply wants to be safe.”
-H. L. Mencken

Today, I got in a really heated argument with a right-wing republican about how foolish it is that pocket knives and nail clippers are considered dangerous weapons. I think it’s really stupid that I am subject to random searches without provocation or suspicion before boarding a plane. All I got was smart answers like, “Don’t fly, then.” According to consensus, I should be restricted from speedy forms of travel based upon my belief that I am still covered under the Bill of rights against unreasonable search and seizure.

Then the topic turned went into how he believes in racial profiling, and I nearly lost my mind. People who like racial profiling obviously don’t belong to the race being profiled. We’re Americans. We all have rights. When you profile a group, not only are you creating a case of guilty by association, you are creating a situation where the profiler is the ultimate authority, and that guy or gal can be wrong.

You are a terrorist profiler. You need to protect the airport. What group of people makes the most terrorist attacks on the U.S.? Right. So , every person that looks like he could be middle eastern should be pulled aside and prodded. Plus, you’re going to put me on the list just to be cute. Easy right? Wrong. You are detaining the wrong group.

The biggest group of terrorists against the U.S. is Latin America. Check the facts as they’re from a report put out annually by the U.S. government called “Patterns of Global Terrorism“. Big deal. A few more than the middle east than Latin America… For every one attack that the middle east makes, Latin America makes eighty six. 86:1. Latin America makes more attacks on the U.S. than the rest of the world combined. Combined. Why don’t you see that on the news? Ever? Oil? Could it be oil? What is oil, Alex? I think my buzzer is broken. So, the criteria that you used to detain honest people was wrong. You’ve launched an attack on a people based on race. Nice job. It’s American.

The government used to attack blacks with dogs, kill students for speaking up, kicked the crap out of union organizers for trying to fight corporations, put full blooded Americans of Japanese descent in internment camps in WWII, and now they’re going for the middle easterners. That’s the government. If you give up your rights and put yourself in their hands, you deserve what you get. The government exists to serve the people. If you act like it’s the other way around, it soon will be.

I understand that planes can be used as bombs, and that’s why we go through metal detectors. There is no reason to wave a wand over my body, pat my crotch, or make me take off my shoes if I don’t set off any alarms. Random searches are not reasonable searches. Last time I checked, I was a U.S. citizen and I used to have protected rights. And if you think that searching you at an airport and confiscating your nail clippers has anything to do with preventing terrorist attacks, you need a lesson or two. If you can kill a man with nail clippers, the confiscation of the actual clippers won’t matter much if you decide to make a move. If you’re a well-funded, well-trained terrorist, I don’t think that the lame security at the airport are going to catch you, anyway. These things are in place to make Joe Public feel safe. Or violated. Or subservient. Or all of those.

You don’t have to agree. We can always agree to disagree. Just take a good look at the plate of shit that you’re handed before you swallow it.

Posted in Philosophical BS