The TSA Is Training Employees How To Be More Authoritarian
In order to change the tarnished image that so many have of the Transportation Security Administration, they are attempting to train their employees to use proper etiquette. Etiquette is defined as conventional requirements relating to social behavior or proprieties of conduct as established in any class, community or for any occasion. Unfortunately, for ordinary citizens that are forced to pass through TSA checkpoints when traveling, these etiquette classes will not have a visible or measurable impact on interactions with the TSA.The etiquette training that the TSA is undertaking will not meet the demands of airline travelers because the changes are not driven by the market. Much like the Department of Motor Vehicles, the TSA operates in a bubble. Both of these organizations enjoy a monopoly on the services provided by their industry. The TSA employees at security checkpoints do not have the same incentives to please their users as a company that operates in a competitive environment. For example, stewardesses on airplanes have a vested interest in satisfying their customers. If a person is not pleased with how an airline employee treats them, they can pick a different airline the next time they fly. If this occurs frequently enough revenue could be impacted, which could result in job losses. In contrast, if a person is sexually assaulted during the “screening” process at a security checkpoint, they are left with no alternative service provider to choose the next time they fly. The only recourse a person has after a poor experience with the TSA is choosing not to fly. This simply is not an option for a majority of travelers.Marc, our very own editor-in-chief here at Lions Of Liberty, documented how he was sexually assaulted at the hands of a TSA employee and described the subsequent phone call he received from the TSA after filing a formal complaint. In any other line of work the employee would be fired and charged with sexual assault. In the bizarre world that the TSA operates, the “punishment” probably lands them in a training class similar to the one described below by nj.com. During these training classes they learn how to treat users that do not approve of their invasive behavior.
“If we don’t have the chaos at the checkpoint, then the officers who are working there can see if there is a threat,” said Jim Greuter, a lead transportation screening instructor with the TSA in New Jersey.Greuter and fellow trainer Dan Carew, both former screeners at Newark Liberty International Airport, were instructing a class of 22 screening trainees Wednesday at the agency’s office in Union Township. Posters on the classroom walls exhorted the virtues of “verbal deflection” (parrying an insult), “command presence” (looking good in uniform), “active listening,” and other authority enhancing techniques.
The already out of control TSA, which operates outside the laws of this land, are now being taught “authority enhancing techniques”. You really cannot make this stuff up. Rather than learning to act respectfully and cater to the users of their service, they are instead taught how to ignore criticism and how to “look tough”. Only in the government could a story this disturbing be advertised to the public as training in proper etiquette. In the real world this kind of improper etiquette would get you punched in the face!When are people going to awaken from their slumber and demand this behavior stop? The citizens of this country have been standing by as the TSA claims increasing control over the travel industry in the United States. There has been pressure from Washington to reign in the TSA, but for the most part the politicians involved are trying to trim around the edges rather than going for the heart of the agency. Recently, Senator Rand Paul stated that he planned to file legislation, for a second time, attempting to scale back the TSA’s reach by privatizing screening operations and establishing a passenger’s bill of rights.Taking this approach with the TSA will not restore privacy to airline travel. The TSA does not need to be privatized, it needs to be abolished and airport security needs to be fully returned to the airlines. Leaving the TSA in place to “enforce” privatized airport security is simply more government and big business cronyism that we do not need. Additionally, establishing a passenger’s bill of rights is completely unnecessary. There is absolutely no need to distinguish between the rights of an airline traveler and the rights of an American citizen. Why should rights change when you step into an airport? Holding all entities accountable to the United States Bill of Rights and the Constitution is a good place to start. Government agencies cannot continue to be allowed to operate outside the laws of the land.Receive access to ALL of our EXCLUSIVE bonus audio content – including “Conspiracy Corner”, “Degenerate Gamblers” and the “League of Liberty Podcast” by joining the Lions of Liberty Pride and supporting us on Patreon!
