Let the TSA Collapse

The Transportation Security Administration or TSA was founded in the aftermath of 9/11 and though it would seem people have forgotten, it was quite controversial. It began a period of dehumanised public interaction with the state, and the degradation and humiliation of travellers. It was connected to the Patriot Act and the decimation of basic Constitutional rights. In other words if I was a patriot (which I am not) I would view TSA workers as traitors, enemies of the republic established by the US Constitution. I'm glad they're not being paid. They should go get real jobs and actually earn some honest money.

Under the TSA, American airports have been turned into totalitarian zones in which free speech, due process, and limits on the state's right to search and seizure are set aside. Studies demonstrate that many Americans quit flying as a result of the TSA. And this was before the now forgotten controversies surrounding body scanners. When the state is looking at you naked, then you're not a free people by any stretch of the imagination. In many respects the TSA-airport project was something of a laboratory that we've seen expanded in the realm of police action and jurisdiction. This was all in connection with the rapid expansion of the US Empire in the wake of 9/11. This entire project went sideways and fragmented but Homeland Security and the TSA are now thoroughly entrenched.

The organisation has also been remarkably ineffective as a host of guns and other contraband have slipped through under its watch. It's also corrupt as the dozens of scandals have revealed over the years. It would take too long to list them all.

And so the media would have us pity TSA workers and/or feel frustrated over the lack of ability for these state agents to keep us 'safe' while we fly. The framing of this controversy has been nothing less than absurd.

For the record I'm one of those who has given up on flying. I can't afford it anyway, but were I to travel long distance, I'd find another way.

So from my standpoint, I personally celebrate the de-funding of Homeland Security - the evil farce and umbrella organisation that oversees the TSA. And if all those TSA workers lose their jobs or get frustrated and choose to find honourable jobs instead - all the better. Let the TSA collapse. Let Homeland Security (DHS) collapse and with it ICE. These organisations have done nothing to increase safety. They have instead empowered the state to crush dissent, spread fear, and force conformity. These are awful people, many of them sadists - all of them insufferable bureaucrats. For my part I hope the shutdown continues into next year. The longer the better.