On the TSA (Oregon Trip Part 1)

Since the inception of the TSA; on those rare occasions I have flown I have got to know a few of their officers a little more intimately than I would prefer.  Whether it was me telling an agent early on "That's as far as I go on a first date" when he asked me to roll my waist ban  down further after having me open it during a pat down or the scanner followed by the crotch grope of this past weekend; I just can't seem to go through the line without receiving a little extra "security".

Now understand I have no problem with most of these agents.  They are doing their jobs to the best of their ability, and there are going to be people in every group who are truly unsuitable to their jobs.  This isn't a bitch about either of those.  My problem, like many of you, is more fundamental:  I dislike the politics of fear that the TSA represents.  The announcements, the posters, the "threat level" for the most part  aren't designed to make us feel safe as we fly, but instead remind us how scary the world is.  I know many people have said it more eloquently than I and for that reason, I have traditionally never said anything about this.  Until now:

Until my (wonderful) trip to the Oregon Coast  (which I will be talking about  later on tonight), I hadn't flown for several years,  so this might not be new.  As I was leaving the airport upon our return to Boise, I saw a  TSA poster that I really wish I had taken a photo of since I haven't been able to find it anywhere since.   It had on the left side a black and white photo of a little girl obviously right out of the 1950s with her hand over her heart, apparently saying the Pledge of Allegiance. On the right, in color, we had two pictures: the top a mother and child,  beneath it  siblings, all wrapped up in the American Flag.  Beneath these photos was the caption: "Do you remember what it was like to feel safe".
It made my blood boil.  It was a well designed propaganda piece playing off the emotional reactions of the people walking through  the terminal.  A look at the images and their placement made it clear that the poster was designed to invoke a feeling  of unease or fear as travelers approach the security check points.

Fear is  the great thoughtless motivator.  It pulls even the most rational person in directions they wouldn't normally go in an attempt to feel "safe".  Unfortunately, in this case "safe" is an illusion.
Part of me wonders if we didn't lose something fundamental when we  allowed ourselves to traffic in fear almost a decade ago. 

If you are interested in learning more about politics and specifically propaganda  take a look at William Lutz's The New Doublespeak