How To Get The Word to the Rest of America?
 

I have noticed over time that most any discussions of security on the more read airline forums get moved over here. Also appears that the vast majority of the folks that do visit HERE realize the foolishness of the TSA and most of what they do.

So, how do we get the word out to the vast majority of Americans that have been fooled into thinking that all this crapola is good for us?

Really, if most intelligent people knew about all the obvious holes in the system, illogical rules, continued failure of TSA screening, etc. along with the fact that it really is not protecting us, they might rise up and demand changes??

My personal favorite:

http://home.comcast.net/~mdtraveler/TSA_revised.jpg

:D

^^:D
That's pretty good. The Wicked Witch of the West and ol' Rumsferatu.

Arghh. Some days I feel it is hopeless.

This came up at a lunch discussion today with co-workers. Highly paid, very technical, cutting-edge computer science types. None of them had spent any time thinking about the farce of current airport security. All of them exhibited resistance to questioning Skeletor and Kippie's Kabuki.

With some effort I was able to show them that TSA security wasn't, but the basic fear of terrorism remained.

I think we need to re-think our plan. These were not individuals I would cast as Ma and Pa Kettle, though they were sheeple.

You just need to talk to them in terms they understand. Largely the concepts of IT security apply to airport security as well. Put it in those terms and I bet some lights come on. I really saw that in the security class I just took in my master's program.

They'll accept hackers breaking in as part of the job ... a determined hacker attack is inevitable. Unfortunately, a terrorist attack from a determine terrorist is also inevitable.

Super

It is a little bit worse than that. Unfortunately. One person understood immediately (a year ago) that the liquid carnival was a complete farce, yet still thought that all shoes contained metal (detectable by the magnetometer).

Skeletor and Hawley have a fertile feeding ground. I've written to my congress-critters about abolishing the TSA, but I've received nary a form letter in response. I think I've been filed in the wacko bin. :D

I feel hopeless, too. My mom, who is a very intelligent woman, balks when it comes to airport security. She believes that they're just trying to make us safer.

Any ideas? Any way we can make this understandable to the common Joe?

The Numbers Are Not On Our Side
 

You are more optimistic than I am. I see this as an almost insoluble dilemma because of the political economy of air travel.

Take these numbers from The Arbitron Airport Advertising Study of 2004:

"An estimated 92 million Americans age 18+ have taken at least one roundtrip airline flight in the past year. Thirty-nine percent of Americans have taken at least one round-trip flight in the past year. Twenty-one percent of Americans, or 50 million people, have flown within the past three months. Eleven percent of Americans, or 26 million people, have flown in the past month."

In other words, 61% of Americans, about 180 million people, have not taken a round-trip flight in the past year. Not one.

That's why the government can get away with this intrusive, annoying, ineffective charade. Assuming Arbitron's numbers are in the correct ballpark, a significant majority of Americans do not board a plane in any given year.

Given this lack of knowledge and experience about the realities of air travel, it's no wonder that people unquestioningly hand over their rights, privacy and dignity to the TSA and CBP.

The media has the power. TV is where they try to keep the people. News and sports keep people addicted, next they're watching sit-coms and reality TV and the world seems blanced. :rolleyes:

Without the fear that misinformation seeds, they'd lose it all.

No matter how hard you yell, the truth rarely gets through.

Gee, the 'vast majority' of 'intelligent and thoughful' people think that airport security, as practiced, is no big deal.

Hmmm. Some people might think that was a good sign that the complainers are being a bit, well, shrill.

I recently finished a 22K mile r/t with my family of five across four countries (and the date line, yuck). Inside that I went to S'pore and India. My wife went to Spain. She was secondaried (twice) and tertiaried (once). My 9 year old daughter got a secondary and got caught with a bottle of water in her bag (whoops) - which did not provoke a secondary.

In Oz we were told to put our chapsticks into a (provided) ziploc, in NZ we were told to take them out, in HNL they didn't seem to notice them either way. So, clearly some regulations are enforced at different levels.

Ya know, the level of courtesy was variable across countries, but was certainly better than, say, the Post or the DMV on average.

My advice: stop obsessing about airport security damaging your constitutional rights or causing untoward delays (we all had those before 911) or whatever the current bete-noir is these days.

---

Oh, and the new international business seats on AA are a huge miss, IMHO, though the kids liked them.

No. You might find it less stressful if you stop obsessing about our obsessions. Do you think the TSA cares that you spend your spare time supporting them on an IBB?

Probably no more than the tax paying "sheeple" care about this thread. Some times taking a different path than the masses does not prove superior intelligence....just that your lost.

Would you mind sharing what intelligence is used in the default "anything for security" mindset?

You know, I got to thinking that sheeple might not be the best term. I think TSA is more like the Pied Piper or the Sirens from Greek mythology. They sure play a sweet tune, but at the end, they'll bring you to a very unhappy place. And it'll be too late by the time it's realized.

According to this admittedly non-scientific poll, a total of 53% of respondents either think the water thing is a waste or have given up flying all together.

Tells me that the tide is turning and the vast majority of flyers do believe "security" as practiced by the TSA is a big deal and/or a joke.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20001992/
or this one:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20039836/

Thanks, but I'll pass. @:-)