Submission to Authority

The TSA has begun to install new imaging devices at airports.  These imaging devices, which use a form of x-ray technology, produce an image of the body that leaves little to the imagination.

Sorry sir, but we must check for any unusual packages.

Americans (from Tea Partiers to self-labeled “Leftists”), being the authority-loving and liberty-loathing crew of sheep that they are, have by and large failed to resist this recent governmental excursion into privacy.  Except for this man.  During the events described in the blog linked above, the man involved left on his camcorder and recorded the incident from his handbag.  The first video of the series can be found here.

This entry isn’t about the outrageousness of the TSA, or about the sad state of civil liberties and personal freedom in America.  This entry is about the response that I’ve seen, in both Youtube comments (I know, I know) and in the reply thread to the blog linked above.  Here are some choice examples.

“It’s not like they cup your balls and wiggle your dick around in their fingers. Calling it molestation is retarded. Some lady had her boob squeezed and now everyone is throwing a fit about this.”

“Hoping your next flight blows up, idiot.”

“I guess I will. Before 9/11, nobody would have thought as planes as weapons, either. If I take public transportation, then I’ll follow the rules. Just as I do when I drive. Or haven’t you noticed the rules about that? No drinking, no texting, no cell phone use without a headset, lights have to work, must have a muffler, must have insurance, license plates…. where have you been?”

“You can drive or take a train. Turning his camera on tells me he was looking for a confrontation. In fact he must have been expecting one.”

“Sounds to me like the subject who is making the video instigated the whole situation to begin with. Anyone who turns on their camera to record something like this is looking for trouble (and an opportunity to file a lawsuit) and if it doesnt happen then they instigate it just like this subject did by verbally abusing the TSA agent with threats of arrest, and using immature language such as, if you touch my junk! C’mon man Grow up, and drive to wherever you want to go!”

A few troubling trends and themes present themselves.  First of all, some of these posters seem perfectly alright with the notion that we should give up privacy for safety.  These are likely the same people who support(ed) Bush and Obama’s illegal wiretaps.  But worse than that, they consider their own submission to be a sign of maturity.  Perhaps what they’re saying is true; the way society is structured, it seems that standing up for what’s right, especially in the face of authority, is increasingly viewed as immature and lame.

The other theme I find troubling is the notion that this man was “looking for a conflict” by turning on his camera.  This I find perhaps more disturbing than the burning desire these submissives have to give up their rights (and for all of us to give them up as well).

The thing about submissives that I’ve never been able to understand is criticism of any and all mechanisms designed to help the individual against corrupt authority.  What could a camera hurt here?  Only the authorities; this is what makes the submissives upset, and what causes them to hurl insults such as the charges of immaturity at those who wish to protect their rights.  Furthermore: if you expect a conflict with authorities, what incentive do you have NOT to record the incident?  The presence of a camera is the closest thing we’re going to get to an objective perspective.

Providing potential victims with cameras has been long recognized as a tactic for holding rogue authority accountable.  It renders the mechanisms of authority transparent.  They’re no longer allowed to control the official account of the story in a way that suits their narrative, their goals, their agenda.

The fact that these ideas persist in our culture is frightening to me.  How many Americans are walking through those scanners happily, allowing themselves to be stripped of their dignity?  Why should they have to parade around, essentially naked, in front of TSA officials?  Why are they willing to?  Why do some of them insist that WE are the immature, foolish, short-sighted ones for not wishing to submit?

As technology improves, imaging technology improves.  The TSA pervert-cameras are a good example.  The government will stop at nothing to expand their ability (technological and legal) to snoop on you.  And these people wish to gripe about a private citizen using a camcorder to protect himself?  Private citizens should have more tools at their disposal, not only to prevent gross incompetence, but also to prevent corruption at the hands of self-serving, all-too-human officials.  The best tool against this form of oppression, other than an informed, passionate, and educated electorate, is a recording device and a free, open method of distribution.