Regarding airport security

[PLC1]

It stinks and people ar only fooled because they can't bring themselves to accept that the US Government would do this.

It's necessary to believe more than that the government would do such a thing. One must believe that the government is capable of pulling it off. If you believe that, then you have far more confidence in government than I have.

 

[rationalist]

Ok, well one thing is for sure, a bunch of poorly trained guys with no airliner flying experience could not have pulled it off.

 

[MrSheepish]

Statistically, yes. Psychologically, no. The psychological impact of terror attacks is very powerful, powerful enough to cause mass hysteria and result in irrational decision making.

We are in agreement on this at least. The primary threat from terrorism is entirely psychological. Terrorists aren't dangerous because they will kill us, they are dangerous because they will make us overreact and destroy our economy and values. We are doing this to ourselves, and that is what makes me shudder. I would love to see a leader who has the guts to confront this kind of irrationality and educate the public about just how little there really is to fear from this sort of terrorism.

You are also right about the potential threat nuclear and biological weapons being more significant, and I don't have such an easy answer to that. But this fear of flying is just silly.

Again, we will have to disagree. Sacrificing our rights is never practical, its always immoral, and the "benefits" will never outweigh the consequences. If you would like to discuss the topic of universal health care further, we should do so in another thread.

I am curious to know why you think universal health care would be sacrificing our rights. Can you recommend a thread to discuss this in, or should I start a new one?

 

[rationalist]

If by 'the terrorists' you refer to the government of the US then you are right

 

[Pandora]

If by 'the terrorists' you refer to the government of the US then you are right

Are you from Canada?

 

[GenSeneca]

Can you recommend a thread to discuss this in, or should I start a new one?

https://www.houseofpolitics.com/forum/showthread.php?t=10013

That's a recent one but if you would like to create a new thread, I'll look forward to seeing you there.