We Can Protect Ourselves, You Know

Amanda Ripley notes in an essay in Time magazine, the gummint (and its media lackeys and detractors) always seems to ignore the fact that people can organize themselves to protect themselves. In fact, five times since 2001, airline passengers have successfully acted to stop terrorist actions on airliners. And yet, the response is always “the government MUST do more! Protect us!”

Each time, we build a slapdash pedestal for the heroes. Then we go back to blaming the government for failing to keep us safe, and the government goes back to treating us like children. This now familiar ritual distracts us from the real lesson, which is that we are not helpless. And since regular people will always be first on the scene of terrorist attacks, we should perhaps prioritize the public’s antiterrorism capability — above and beyond the fancy technology that will never be foolproof.

She concludes her essay:

After the passengers of Flight 253 deplaned in Detroit, they were held in the baggage area for more than five hours until FBI agents interviewed them. They were not allowed to call their loved ones. They were given no food. When one of the pilots tried to use the bathroom before a bomb-sniffing dog had finished checking all the carry-on bags, an officer ordered him to sit down, according to passenger Alain Ghonda, who thought it odd. “He was the pilot. If he wanted to do anything, he could’ve crashed the plane.” It was a metaphor for the rest of the country: Thank you for saving the day. Now go sit down.

Of course, no government — and no “opposition” — really wants people protecting themselves. Republican or Democrat, they wants us quiet, pliant, obedient, submissive, frightened, and vulnerable. (H/T to John Robb at the Global Guerrillas blog.)

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10:05 am on January 4, 2010