I've been through a lot of airports lately and, I have to say, when people joke about TSA meaning "thousands standing around," it has a ring of truth. In November, Bloomberg Businessweek reported that we spend about $8 billion a year on scanning machines, all that time-consuming checking, and employing those people who stand between us and our departure gate. And that cost doesn't even consider the valuable time wasted by travelers who need to allot extra time to cover surprise delays at airport security.
Sure, we need to spend some money and time on security. But does anyone in government have the nerve to raise their hand and ask, "Could we lighten up here a bit?" or even "Aren't we going a bit overboard there?" Bloomberg Businessweek reports that entire years go by (such as 2011) when TSA doesn't spot a single terrorist trying to board an airplane. And then there's s this staggering statistic: "In fact, extremist Islamic terrorism resulted in just 200 to 400 annual deaths worldwide, outside the war zones of Afghanistan and Iraq -- the same number...that occur in bathtubs in the US each year."
Following 9/11, there was, understandably, a push to strengthen our airport security measures. But these efforts may be costing us even more lives. According to Cornell University researchers cited in Bloomberg Businessweek, after 9/11, frightened travelers switching from flights to drives resulted in over 200 more traffic fatalities every month. In the long term, due to security hassles, about 5 percent fewer people fly than used to, resulting in even more road fatalities. In other words, far more people have died on the road as an indirect result of 9/11 than actually died on 9/11.
Maybe it's time to come to grips with the risk of terrorism and finally put it in a rational perspective. Many will say, "If TSA and all the security saves just one life, it will be worth it." The way I see it, wasting money wastes lives. Intimidating people into driving instead of flying wastes lives. A nation can reach a point where its passion for showboat security designed to make people feel safe actually kills them. Security is good, but a cost-benefit awareness is simply smart.