Malicious, to be sure, but the first line of defence against psychopaths, in any society, is psychopathic incompetence. I spoke once with an Israeli counter-terrorism expert, who told me he thought Palestinian terrorists had actually killed more of each other, than Israelis had killed.
Warren goes on to argue that both luck and security policy have combined to make us safer. While I think Warren is subtly making an argument for even more security, this actually reminds of me of Machiavelli's distinction between virtu and fortuna. People, governments, and policy can only do so much. To me, we've long exhausted the marginal benefits from security spending. We may be safer, but we cannot guard against fortune.
Not unless we can all afford to drive in tanks to do our daily routines.
ReplyDeleteWhen strip searches become part of airline security dialogue, it's time to stop flying.
Agreed, we've long overdone the exchange of freedom for security; security against a threat that is about as present here as the communists once were ... (Japan hit harder than the communists on homeland, so maybe a bad example)
liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both." - Ben Franklin
ReplyDeleteI agree. No matter how prepared you are, you cannot gaurd against the unknown, hence the 'unknown' part.
dammit it cut off my awesome quote. Your blog is an ass.
ReplyDeleteLV: Didn't communist Russia put nuclear weapons 70 miles off the coast of the US? I suppose you think they were playing, and not at all serious?
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