Safety & Security

This is one of my favorite topics and a re-occurring theme.

Those of us in America live in one of the safest places on Earth. Yes, there is crime here and people get hurt, but compared to many other places it is really safe. Regardless, we seem to have an obsession about safety. This obsession goes back over a hundred years or more. I haven't done any research on this but it seems to me that as long as America has been a country, we have been working and spending to make it safe. Like many other things, the law of diminishing returns applies to spending money for safety. If you double the money spent, you do not become twice as safe.

During much of my life, my father was in the military and involved in security services. He collected information to help the military make us safer. Much of that information with other tid bits went on to create the massive military build up that was the Cold War. As citizens we spent billions in taxes to make America safe.

The cold war is gone or at least at recess. Now we have a new enemy. Terrorist are real and they pose a threat to public safety. We are again spending billions to make us safe. And, like with the Cold War, the more we spend does not mean we are becoming safer.

We in America and Western Europe have multiple layers of protection. National defense, the military, state and local police are all being paid to make us safer. Yet, my experience tells me we are not getting our monies worth. The military does not seem to be able to win the war in Iraq. Yes, I know it is complicated, but my dad and his friends won the war against Japan is less time. The Police I see are focused on giving speeding tickets and harassing skateboarders, not catching terrorist. And the TSA. Well the TSA is little more then a make work project to employ people who are un or under employed elsewhere. The TSA are "rent a cops" who's only purpose is to make us feel safe by being inconvenienced.

I'm old, do I look like I need to take my shoes off and be sent to secondary screening? This is just plain stupid and a waste of time and money. We as a civilization need to rethink the money we are spending on Safety and Security. My estimate says we could have free national health care and free college tuition with the money wasted on these "safety" programs. This money could and should be better spent.