{ Sunday, March 26, 2006 }
I missed the Bruce Schneier article on Airport security last week, but as we were waiting in line in our stocking feet, to be bullied once more by airport security at SFO, Stewart mentioned it to me.
It's amazing how much time, money and energy is wasted on useless activities designed to get some bureaucrat off the hook for "doing something about the problem". I was reading Malcolm Gladwell's article Million Dollar Murray last week too, about how 10% of the homeless account for millions and millions of dollars in medical and other expenses, and how taking them off the street and giving them an apartment and a private nurse would cost about 10% of what it costs for them to stay on the street. But the thing in the article that really struck me was another annoying, tedious exercise like the airport security nonsense: how all car owners go through once a year: going down to DMW to get their car inspected. Apparently, and similarly, only a small number of cars are responsible for most of the pollution, most of them cars that have a lot of miles on them, such as cabs. Putting a little sensor by the side of the road to detect the big polluters, and then fixing those cars or taking them off the road would significantly reduce pollution.
So next time you're performing one of these frustrating and time-wasting activities, also realize they're also a poor and often useless way to solve the problem they purport to solve.
LINK | 6:34 PM | TB
I think, it's going to get even worse: will be more control over masses and less friedom, more money spent "HALLIBURTON-style" and less transparency of goverment opertations.
Yes, it's 'security theatre', aka institutional arse-coverage, which only lasts as long as the point at which their arses are shown to be bare, at which point the emperor dons a new set of illusory chaps.
And it's a product of insularity, assisted by a climate where questioning the measures taken can be used against you. I knew that Boston Logan was a security colander in 2001. I knew that the Atrium lines in Atlanta airport were a prime target while they worked on building a new external security ring. And if I knew it, I'm damn sure that anyone who's done reccy on these places knows it too.
It's tricky, though, because it enters the domain of profiling: something which, if placed in the hands of individual agents rather than actuarial tables and empirical data, turns into prejudicial targetting.
nick s | March 28, 2006 7:18 AMUp until a few years ago, there was no such thing as a yearly car inspection in Ireland. Everyone was free to drive any old rust bucket year after year, no matter how close it was to falling apart, and with no fear of censure. It was only after the Irish economy turned so strong, and everyone could afford to dump the old wrecks and buy brand new cars, that the law changed and inspections became mandatory.
Maybe the lesson is that this sort of nonsense only comes into play when we all have more money than sense. When there are more important things to worry about, like putting food on the table, no one is bothered with silly laws about the state of your car, or whether you're wearing a helmet when you go riding your bike.
Crazy, crazy, world.
Darren | March 30, 2006 5:31 AMInteresting to search Google for "useless activities". Out of 15 million web pages that use these two words, this blog post of yours ranks #5, and my link to it from Accumulist ranks #1.
Airport security: apparently Google thinks you have truly discovered the most useless activity in the world.
Lawrence Krubner | April 11, 2006 5:15 PMI would have thought listening to the album the Doors put out after Jim Morrison died would have gotten #1.
Lawrence Krubner | April 11, 2006 5:17 PMIt was only after the Irish economy
friend | September 2, 2006 4:46 AM{ Post a comment }
"The same might be asked about Raskolnikov."
post pc | March 26, 2006 9:37 PM