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There's a component of this that screams for root cause analysis. And the answer is obvious (at least I think so): Terrorism. Before 9/11 I could fly with a b

There's a component of this that screams for root cause analysis. And the answer is obvious (at least I think so): Terrorism. Before 9/11 I could fly with a beefy swiss army knife in my carry-on. Even tools like screwdrivers. No issues whatsoever. I used to do a lot of flying with equipment within the US, back and forth to Europe and within Europe selling and supporting our hardware. For example, I've flown to London with a carry-on full of tools, soldering irons, FPGA dev board, DSO's, etc. No problems. 9/11 changed all of that in an instant. Now I have to take off my shoes and carrying a screwdriver set is unthinkable. Why? These people changed our way of life. And I am not talking about the US only. This is a mess. The Neanderthal part of my brain wants it simple: The roles ought to be reversed. We should be able to live exactly as we did and they, the bad guys, ought to be the ones living in fear of what we might do to them. This requires an approach to dealing with the bad guys that is, well, Neanderthal, brutal. People in fear of the consequences of their actions think twice about doing stupid things. Bush had an opportunity to go after the right people and create that "don't you ever dare fuck with us" mental shift. Instead, well, I won't go into it. Here we are. Not sure how this problem is solved without violence. Maybe I haven't given it enough thought. We (the world) shouldn't have to live like this. This isn't just about being inconvenienced, this is about all sorts of abuses and about every single citizen of the world being treated like criminals with no justification whatsoever other than "what if". Does someone have any good non-cave-man ideas?

nickthemagicman 10y ago
Those of us without private planes are the ones getting the cave man treatment..think about that.
arthur_pryor 10y ago
deal with the systemic inequality and lack of opportunity that make terrorism an attractive option?
- rebootthesystem 10y ago
  That's a false narrative. Terrorism isn't a natural consequence of inequality. It's deviant behavior that can only exist in the context of life-long indoctrination by twisted minds who dedicate their lives to creating even more twisted minds. Notice I have not mentioned a religion. Terrorism, in general terms, exists and has existed in many cultures both with and without a religious foundation. Terrorism is also about power, the quest for it by people far smarter than the pawns strapping on suicide vests. If inequality were a true root cause the poor of the world would be engaging in terrorist acts in every single country. Inequality is a natural phenomenon. I would love to be a better dancer, but I suck at it. I would probably enjoy to be able to swim faster, but my body doesn't have --and will never have-- the right shape to challenge those who do. Beyond that, while I've done very well in life, I would love to launch and run a company at the Apple/Google/Facebook/Tesla/etc. scale but that hasn't happened for me yet. And it might never happen. Not because of some grandiose conspiracy to oppress me but because of a range of reasons, including the possibility that I am simply not good enough to do make that happen. Utopia does not exist. Equality is utopia. Inequality is not a root cause for terrorism. Sure, it can be used to convince weak minds that they've been wronged and as one of many ingredients to convince them to strap on a suicide vest, but, no, on it's own it isn't the problem.

nickthemagicman 10y ago

Those of us without private planes are the ones getting the cave man treatment..think about that.

arthur_pryor 10y ago

deal with the systemic inequality and lack of opportunity that make terrorism an attractive option?

rebootthesystem 10y ago
That's a false narrative. Terrorism isn't a natural consequence of inequality. It's deviant behavior that can only exist in the context of life-long indoctrination by twisted minds who dedicate their lives to creating even more twisted minds. Notice I have not mentioned a religion. Terrorism, in general terms, exists and has existed in many cultures both with and without a religious foundation. Terrorism is also about power, the quest for it by people far smarter than the pawns strapping on suicide vests. If inequality were a true root cause the poor of the world would be engaging in terrorist acts in every single country. Inequality is a natural phenomenon. I would love to be a better dancer, but I suck at it. I would probably enjoy to be able to swim faster, but my body doesn't have --and will never have-- the right shape to challenge those who do. Beyond that, while I've done very well in life, I would love to launch and run a company at the Apple/Google/Facebook/Tesla/etc. scale but that hasn't happened for me yet. And it might never happen. Not because of some grandiose conspiracy to oppress me but because of a range of reasons, including the possibility that I am simply not good enough to do make that happen. Utopia does not exist. Equality is utopia. Inequality is not a root cause for terrorism. Sure, it can be used to convince weak minds that they've been wronged and as one of many ingredients to convince them to strap on a suicide vest, but, no, on it's own it isn't the problem.