Prior to the Age of Enlightenment, men were never equal before the law. A few considered themselves born to privilege and wealth, with the innate right to subjugate everyone else. The vast numbers of serfs beneath these tyrants lived sycophantically: the best protection against the State was to curry favor with a ruler or one of his cronies. Should you subsequently fall into Leviathan’s clutches, you fared best by staying on your knees and pleading your master’s guardianship.
Then came the American Revolution. It lifted us from such degrading dependence and freed us from the official power of thugs, thieves, liars, and murderers. “All men are created equal,” it boldly proclaimed. It just as boldly denied that anyone had the moral authority to lord it over his neighbors.
American aviation has reversed that progress. The TSA’s PreCheck grants special status to certain passengers, those who curry favor with bureaucrats by answering their questions and with the bureaucrats’ cronies, the airlines, by patronizing them more than average. And here we have shameless bragging from one such fascist company about rescuing “eligible” serfs from the TSA’s sexual assault: “United Airlines has started providing advance notice to customers who are selected for the Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) pre-screening program, TSA Precheck. Eligible United customers will start to see the TSA Precheck indicator on mobile boarding passes, boarding passes printed at home or from the kiosks at some airports, allowing customers to effectively route themselves to available TSA Precheck lanes. ‘Our customers tell us how much they appreciate that TSA Precheck expedites their security screening experience,’ said Alex Marren, United’s senior vice president of network operations and United Express.”
“The TSA Precheck logo.” Sorta like the brand with which owners mark cattle.
6:05 pm on May 5, 2013
