As a society, we expect our civil liberties to be protected by the laws of our national government. We also expect to be safe when we leave our homes and go about the business of our daily lives, but lately it has been an increasingly difficult chore for our government to perform its duties at the optimum level. Increased terrorist threats and attacks on civilian territory have put pressure on the government to step up its game in the protection of its citizens. Unfortunately, roadblocks put in place by civil libertarians prevent our government from doing so. As a direct result, we as a society need to decide what is more important; we can put more power into the hands of the national government in an effort to protect ourselves from domestic threats, or we can restrict the power of the national government in the interest of preserving civil liberties, but then hold ourselves responsible every time a plane is high-jacked or a subway is blown to pieces. Unfortunately, most people just want the government to protect us without infringing on our civil liberties and without having to take that kind of responsibility upon themselves. Well, it just doesn’t work that way.
The most drastic example of this struggle between big brother and civil liberties deals with our methods of public transportation, specifically the airlines. Whole body scanners are becoming mandatory additions to nationwide airports. These scanners literally scan right through a person’s clothes, even the skivvies, to get a digitized full body image in an attempts to locate concealed weapons. Many claim that this is a total violation of personal privacy, and that digital scanners not only strip travelers of their clothes, but of their dignity. The alternative to those who do not wish to be digitally stripped is to be actually groped by airline officials and bag checkers.
Countless lives have been lost, and billions of dollars are spent each year cleaning up after plane crashes related to terrorist attacks and threats. In response, whole body scanning technology is being used for the very first time in airports, and despite claims that all of this is meant to prevent terrorism, the public consensus is that full body scanners exist only to instill the illusion of protection. As long as people feel safe, airline security is treated to endless digital peep shows and we ignore the actual issue of national security and safety among travelers.
The fact of the matter is, we are talking about digitized images of the human form. And although full body scanning may not completely alleviate the threat of terrorist attack, it certainly can’t hurt in our never ending campaign to end violence in America. Most people would probably rather be subjected to a ten second scan and be on their way than board a plane when they don’t feel completely safe, right? What’s the worst thing that can happen? Alright, so someone gets to see a digitally recreated image of your naked body for a few seconds, and then never thinks of you again because there are several thousand other travelers waiting in line behind you.
America is just going to have to accept that if we as a people want any safety whatsoever, we’re going to have to forego some of our own civil liberties, even if that safety is simply an “illusion.” What’s the point of living in this society if cannot even trust our own government to protect us from harm? And if society is still unsatisfied with the way in which the government approaches public safety, then people are going to have to get creative because it is unlikely that terrorist threats on civilian ground are going to end anytime soon.