Profiling

I just want you to know that when we talk about war, we're really talking about peace." George W. Bush

The big debate now is to profile, or not to profile, airline passengers. I am not going to choose for or against profiling. I will make a prediction that the American public will demand profiling. I am asking the question, why is profiling illegal?

There is some difference in a private business profiling and the government profiling. The government profiled during World War Two when it incarcerated the Japanese Americans. Of course there were many private individuals who would have killed the Japanese Americans if they had not been in a safe place.

We private individuals profile when we chose a mate, a business partner or purchase goods and services. So why is it illegal?

I believe it started when the egalitarians gained credibility and wanted everyone to be equal. Egalitarians want the poor to live as well as the rich. They want the willing to be equal to the unwilling. They want the weak to be equal to the strong. They want each to have the same pleasure, and therefore they want the suffering to be equal. They want us all to share the pain of airport lines and degraded screening. So some of the problems facing airlines are created by some government laws that try to make everyone equal.

Another reason profiling is illegal, groups were discriminated against in the past. Laws against profiling were passed by elected officials who were trying to buy votes in an attempt to assuage the fears of those groups who felt discrimination. As groups gain power in a democracy, laws soon become perverted. Anti discrimination laws require United Airlines to interview a young Muslim male if he applies for a job as a pilot. Profiling may be unethical or immoral, but governments should not try to legislate morality. Good leaders do not have to use force to teach morality.

If an airline could be freed from all government regulations it could screen only those they suspected of causing harm to their property and customers. They could even hire former special ops men to serve as armed flight attendants. However, they cannot do that. Why? Because of another government law, the Railway Labor Act, which protects the current unionized flight attendants. Most of the current flight attendants are no match for even a weak terrorist or a disturbed 59 year old woman.

The free market would tell if profiling is a good policy or a bad policy. A private business wants to satisfy their customers so they will try to alienate as few as possible. They want your money, but liability laws, in a real free market, will require them to be diligent instead of negligent when it comes to security. The government on the other hand treats all airline customers as if they are all potential terrorists. They treat relatives of 9/11 victims the same as they treat young Muslim males. The government even treats Jews as if they are the same threat as young Muslim men! Absurd is an understatement.

Americans were conditioned by the political correctness run amok prior to 9/11 in America as shown by what passenger agent Michael Tuohey said;
<*Michael Tuohey saw two of the hijackers on the morning of 9/11 and had the same instinct. Tuohey worked the ticket counter at the airport in Portland, Maine for US Airways. He'll never forget that particular day amongst his 34 years of employment. At 5:43 a.m. on a bright Tuesday morning, two men wearing sport coats and ties approached his ticket counter with just 17-minutes to spare before their flight to Boston. He thought this pair was unusual. "It was just the look on the one man's face, his eyes," Tuohey told me. In front of him were Mohamed Atta and Abdul Aziz al Omari. "I looked up, and asked them the standard questions. The one guy was looking at me. It sent a chill through me. Something in my stomach churned. And subconsciously, I said to myself, 'if they don't look like Arab terrorists, nothing does'." "Then I gave myself a mental slap. In over 34 years, I had checked in thousands of Arab travelers and I never thought this before. I said to myself, 'that's not nice to think. They are just two Arab businessmen'." And with that, Tuohey handed them their boarding passes. >

http://news.yahoo.com/s/huffpost/20060817/cm_huffpost/027443


Bilbo Baggins