Fear and Panic in the 21st century

As the new year approaches and the unwitting start of a new decade rolls around on the calender, it seems appropriate that the major event in the week before the end is an attempted and failed terrorist attack. An incompetent flunkie failed to blow himself up on Christmas day and once again the panic is raised. New regulations are thrown about without thought and the idea that safety is more important than liberty is flying around conversations much more lightly than it should. This panic is the defining characteristic of the past decade, and it frightens me much more than terrorism ever has.

On one of the national news shows last night they did a piece on the full body scans that have been proposed as mandatory and are in use at several major airports throughout the US. These scans show what amounts to a nude image of the person being scanned to the monitor. The person being interviewed said that this tech would have been able to spot the bomb that the most recent bomber used when other methods failed. And then claimed that acceptance of an invasion of privacy like this was the way to handle it. While it might be true that it could have spotted the bomb, acceptance of a violation of personal privacy is never the proper way for a modern society to cope. Freedom and liberty must be the first considerations. And to have a life size nude picture broadcast against your will is a violation that shouldn't be accepted. Yeah, the choice to show yourself like that should be allowed and not condemned at all, but to be forced to against your will is akin to rape. Why not make everyone just fly naked? It would be much more fun.

The other argument that has been voiced loudly recently is to adopt the more direct profiling system that Israel uses. The argument is pure effectiveness. Israel openly profiles, openly bans and searches people without cause except the profile, and they have not had a successful hijacking in nearly 30 years. I cannot argue against the effectiveness of the policy. But liberty and justice for all was not what Israel was founded on. It is what the United States is all about. Israel has let the terrorist win by sacrificing the freedoms of a modern society in order to maintain safety. It makes the country paranoid and leads to a list of human rights violations and half the population of the area being completely disenfranchised and a cycle of violence that continues on and on. We are supposed to be better than this. We are supposed to be the shining example of freedom and hope and liberty and justice for the world to aspire to. A country founded on reason and thought, not panic and fear. When we sacrifice these ideals then it is the same as letting the terrorists win.

The thing is, the bombing attempt could have been prevented by people just doing their jobs now. He was on terror watch lists, which should have flagged him. He was known to have attended terror training camps which should have had him under surveillance. His own father called the US embassy and said that his son should not be allowed to fly. Good police work, people doing their jobs, and following up leads that weren't obtained by any violations of privacy rights should have stopped this man. The question should be why didn't it? Is it a sign that we need more people working for security? Is it a sign that the people who are working security need to do their jobs better? Is it part of a plot to make Obama look like a weak liberal pussy? Ok, yeah the last is a bit facetious but still, the point stands. We as a society, as citizens, must ask these questions and not get caught up in the panic that is so easy to be swept up in. We must find solutions that fit with our laws, our national constitution, and the idea that perfection is obtainable.

Alright, those are my ramblings. Leave some love or leave some hate. The next one might be a last 10 years in review type blog that is extremely emo and laughable for most of you. But hey, it's my blog and I can write what I want to.