So recently I saw a piece on the news about the Don’t touch my junk guy, and the recent outrage about the new airline security policies. Now I realize that a lot has changed in the past few years since the September 11th terrorist attacks, but are we over reacting? Is our safety more important than our privacy? Which do we value more?
Me, being the type of person to analyze things like this with lists and careful reflection, as opposed to simply acting on my emotions (because when I do, it seems to get me into trouble) So, I weighed out the pros and cons of this situation. I got to thinking about all of the different situations that could sway my opinion in either way. For example, would I rather have everyone, including myself, frisked meticulously, even if it may seem crude and intrusive, in order to keep that person who has a bomb, or any other sort of weapon, off of my flight? I think that one of the main positive aspects of the new policy is the fact that it removes the once, very real, very present, profiling. Now that everyone is subject to the frisking and screening of the TSA, there are very few cases of the racial and religious prejudice that we used to see so often. However, what if you had children, or elderly relatives, or disabled family or friends that are traveling with you? Are they subject to the violations of a TSA frisk and pat downs? Are children, elderly, and the disabled threats to our safety? In my opinion, the answer is no, but one thing we have to understand is that this is an arms race between our safety personnel and those who wish to do us harm. So with that in mind, I must say that, although I believe that an element of privacy should be implemented in the future, I believe that as long as terrorists are willing to keep trying to outsmart our safety administrations, it is our responsibility to adapt and stay ahead of those who wish to harm us.