Giving up Liberty to The TSA? [View All]

[MineralMan]

New procedures, including backscatter scanners and more intense pat-down searches, at US airports have been quite the topic over the past few days. This new stuff has generated many cries about our liberties being taken away in the name of security. One notable part of this discussion is that a large number of people who are disturbed by these more invasive searches are declaring that they will not fly at all. Some have even said that they haven't flown since 9/11 or for a very long time.

That got me thinking a little about who is losing their liberty. Is it those who choose not to travel by air, thus restricting their liberty to travel as they please? Or, is it those who shrug at this stuff and continue to fill the aircraft flying to and from destinations all over this planet? Who has really lost liberty?

I fly. My first trip by air was in 1965, when I flew from LAX to San Antonio to begin basic training in the USAF. Since that first flight, I've flown hundreds of times, to destinations all over the world. I love flying. I can go places that would be completely impractical to visit by any other means of transportation. I visit distant family. I've traveled very often on business. Now that I'm retired from my business of journalism, I travel less frequently. I have smaller means than I once had. These days, my travel is pretty much limited to family visits at holidays. I enjoy traveling, and traveling when I choose to the destinations I choose has been important to me all my life. I get there by flying.

A long time ago, some hijackings of airplanes caused security measures to be introduced to travelers. It started with carry-on bag inspections, then magnetometer gates were added to check for metal objects carried by people. X-ray machines were added to peer into our baggage, to check for dangerous items. The security screenings have slowly gotten more complicated, leading up to today's new screening procedures. Over that time, I remember having to turn my new-fangled laptop computer on for the security screener, to demonstrate that it was a working device. Now, I have to plan my carry-on packing a bit, to make sure I don't have things I can't take on the plane. I now have to take off my shoes. On my next flight, on Christmas Day, 2010, I'll have to choose whether to go through a backscatter scanner or get patted down by someone.

Each time the routines have changed, I've adapted my travel to accommodate those changes. I have a simple routine I follow as I get in line for the security screening. I empty my pockets, except for my boarding pass and DL, remove my belt, and put those items into an outside pocket of my carry-on. It all goes in bins, with my notebook computer out of the carry-on, too. It's simple, and when I go through whatever scanner I go through, there's nothing on my person that causes any alarm on anyone's part. There's nothing in my carry-on laptop bag, either, that will cause any alarm to the person watching the screen. So, I pick up my stuff, find a seat and put my shoes and belt back on and refill my pockets, then move on to the gate. I suppose this all adds five minutes or so to the time it takes me to get to my gate, where I board my flight and head for my destination. Sometimes the lines can be long, and are often delayed by people who are unfamiliar with, or who ignore, the screening procedures, but I always get to the airport early enough that such delays are unimportant. I've had some interesting chats with people waiting in those lines.

I fly. I love flying to familiar places or to places I've never been. Freedom to travel as I choose is one of the liberties I treasure. I'd be very upset if I couldn't do that. But I can. I choose to. I choose to deal with some minor inconvenience to do so. My liberty to travel is not taken away. If, on the other hand, I objected so strongly to these security procedures that I refused to go through them, one of my liberties would be lost, and by my own decision. I could still travel as I normally do, but I would have chosen not to do so. I would have taken away that freedom of travel from myself. I would have taken away my own liberty.

Ever since security screening began, we've subjected ourselves to some sort of search in order to fly. It's been a long, long time. It's also been a long, long time since a US airplane was hijacked or destroyed by someone. I don't honestly know if the increased security measures has anything to do with that, but it may be keeping would-be terrorists from even trying. I can't say. I know that those security procedures are in place. I can choose whether to fly or not. I choose to fly. I choose to continue to exercise my freedom of travel and go where I want, when I want.

Will someone see a vague image of me naked? Whatever. I can't count the number of people who have seen me naked one time or another. I grew up with communal showers in school and in the military. Will some guy frisk me and maybe (the horror) make contact with my genitals through my clothing? Whatever. It's not a big deal to me. Heck, my doctor gives me a prostate exam once a year. That doesn't bother me either. It's all part of life. I have the liberty to choose not to be subjected to any of those things. In one case, that means giving up traveling by air. In the other, it could mean dying prematurely from prostate cancer. Choices. I choose to maintain my liberty to travel and to get that examination. My body's not that interesting. It's just like everyone else's, more or less. What's in my luggage isn't that interesting. I know what can go in there and what can't, so there's nothing in it that can't be there. Simple.

So, I'm not willing to choose to give up my liberties. I choose to travel by air. I fly. Others may choose to restrict themselves. That's their decision. I'll keep right on doing what I enjoy, and will continue to go where I want, when I want, as long as I can afford it. Maybe I'll see you at the airport. Bon voyage! Or not. It's your choice.