Is aviation security mostly for show? – CNN.com

This guy is an expert on security. He discusses security theatre: the need for checks — and the intrusion into ordinary life. This theatre is a form of petty tryanny, and like all tyrannies, it should be resisted.

Once a society starts circumventing its own laws, the risks to its future stability are much greater than terrorism.

Despite fearful rhetoric to the contrary, terrorism is not a transcendent threat. A terrorist attack cannot possibly destroy a country's way of life; it's only our reaction to that attack that can do that kind of damage. The more we undermine our own laws, the more we convert our buildings into fortresses, the more we reduce the freedoms and liberties at the foundation of our societies, the more we're doing the terrorists' job for them.

Today, we can project indomitability by rolling back all the fear-based post-9/11 security measures. Our leaders have lost credibility; getting it back requires a decrease in hyperbole. Ditch the invasive mass surveillance systems and new police state-like powers. Return airport security to pre-9/11 levels. Remove swagger from our foreign policies. Show the world that our legal system is up to the challenge of terrorism. Stop telling people to report all suspicious activity; it does little but make us suspicious of each other, increasing both fear and helplessness.

via Is aviation security mostly for show? – CNN.com.

So, can we please have our fluids back? Our laptops in our bags? And can we carry multitools?

In the end, stopping terror is the duty of all free people. The police do not have a monopoly on providing safety. The civilian who stops fires because he or she is the person closest needs commendation, not to be told they violated some obscure health and safety rule

Hat tip Slashdot.