Ben Franklin once wrote: Those that would give up essential Liberty to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety. Those words come to mind every time we have a terror attack of some sort and “TV experts” start listing all of the security measures we should take to prevent the same thing from happening again.
After this week’s truck attack in New York City, the recommendations have been to build giant barricades to protect biking trails and sidewalks all across the country. Some have even suggested checking the federal terror watch list before renting vehicles to people. Try to imagine the car rental counters in the Orlando airport as every middle-aged American man goes through the same security process as TSA before they are allowed to get on the shuttle to pick up their Ford Taurus for the week (because we wouldn’t want to put just “certain people” under such extra scrutiny–that would be “unfair”).
It’s no coincidence that the security measures we continue to adopt in society have their roots in the realm of corrections. Walk-thru metal detectors were first used in prisons to prevent inmates from sneaking weapons back to their cells. Passcard door systems were first used in jails to eliminate the need for guards to all carry keyrings–and to allow for certain doors to remain locked–even with a card–in an emergency situation. “Perimeter security” has been a hallmark of prison construction since we started locking up the bad guys–as much to keep people in as it was to keep people out.
So how much temporary security are we going to purchase? Already, if you walk down the street in a major American city, cameras are identifying you and providing police information on your location. You are already treated as a potential terrorism suspect every time you try to board an airplane. We are spending billions–perhaps trillions of dollars to “secure” any building, event or landmark that we think might be a “target”.
The more barricades, fences, concrete posts, security posts, metal detectors and surveillance cameras we put up in the mistaken belief that it is making us more “secure”, the more “Liberty” we surrender. And who is ultimately the winner in that scenario?
