Theater

This Verge article on the abject failure that is the TSA is making the rounds.

To ensure compliance with TSA policies, supervisors monitor TSOs via security cameras, random inspections, and regular covert tests. And they hand out discipline liberally. In most cases, TSOs spend their first two years on probation, during which time they can be fired for anything deemed to be “unacceptable performance or conduct.”

This compliance fetish creates a lot of anxiety among the TSA’s front-line workers. “The lower the level you occupy in the organization, the more severe the punishment for committing an error in judgment,” writes Becker. “Everyone [is] always afraid of making a mistake and getting fired.”

That anxiety gets transferred onto the flying public, too. From the moment we step into the security line until we are disgorged on the other side, shoeless and unbelted and without any liquids greater than 3.4 oz, we become Potential Threats, worthy of severe scrutiny. It’s not personal. It’s just policy.

(I say “we,” but of course there are ways around it if you have enough money. The ultra-wealthy, who can afford to fly private, often don’t have to go through TSA at all. The merely rich can pay $3,500 a month for access to a members-only TSA screening line at LAX. And, at the bottom of the pecking order, those with a spare $85 or the right credit card perks can get TSA PreCheck.)

The only real outcomes of the TSA have been to make sure the plebs know where they rank, get people used to the idea of prison style searches of the general population and breed fear.

Despite zero evidence of effectiveness and constantly failing audits, the TSA is here to stay. The industries and lobbies that have sprung up around it aren’t going away, much like the covid theater industries.

What strikes me whenever I’m in the US is the shouting. TSA people are always yelling their orders. Never a polite, “Could you please take your laptop out of your bag?” instead it’s “I NEED YOU TO PUT YOUR LAPTOP ON THE BELT!”

This authoritarian culture is spilling over to other parts of society. When I left the US about 15 years ago, I always missed how polite and composed American were, the classic smile and good naturedness that defined nearly every public interaction. That’s just not the case anymore.

This is artificial. Security screeners are European airports don’t shout. My experience with officials at airports in Europe is one of calm and professional. That’s how I used to remember the States.