Bit of a Rant (You've been warned)
So for those who aren’t local, the DC Metro has just instituted a system of random bag checks at Metro stations. They won’t be announced in advance, and while you have the right to refuse, if you do you will be denied access to the system. Checks will be conducted randomly at one station at a time.
Call me crazy, but this pisses me off. I’m operating under the assumption that anyone who was actually going to smuggle drugs or plant a bomb in Metro would probably do at least minimal prep-work, meaning that they’d know at least as much about this system as I do going in.
Now this is just me, but if I were carrying drugs or explosives, and cops asked to search my bag, I’d politely decline and just board the system at the next station over. As a commuter who that would make late, however, I’m simply expected to sacrifice another little piece of my right to privacy for yet another ineffective placebo-esque half-measure of security.
Living in a police-state does not make you more safe. Police states antagonize and disenfranchise civilians, who then get angry. What do angry people do when they are disenfranchised? They lash out. They express their power, any way they can. People like me write. Some people are less peaceful. Police states, the ultimate expression of draconian security, beget the very civilian terrorists they seek to eliminate.
I’m going to be conducting a little write-in campaign to let Metro know what I think of their most recent fear-based initiative. If any locals wish to join me in this, I thank you.
-Jeremiah
Call me crazy, but this pisses me off. I’m operating under the assumption that anyone who was actually going to smuggle drugs or plant a bomb in Metro would probably do at least minimal prep-work, meaning that they’d know at least as much about this system as I do going in.
Now this is just me, but if I were carrying drugs or explosives, and cops asked to search my bag, I’d politely decline and just board the system at the next station over. As a commuter who that would make late, however, I’m simply expected to sacrifice another little piece of my right to privacy for yet another ineffective placebo-esque half-measure of security.
Living in a police-state does not make you more safe. Police states antagonize and disenfranchise civilians, who then get angry. What do angry people do when they are disenfranchised? They lash out. They express their power, any way they can. People like me write. Some people are less peaceful. Police states, the ultimate expression of draconian security, beget the very civilian terrorists they seek to eliminate.
I’m going to be conducting a little write-in campaign to let Metro know what I think of their most recent fear-based initiative. If any locals wish to join me in this, I thank you.
-Jeremiah