Quote:
Originally Posted by Harmon
My thought then & now was that the best security we could have was not to ban box cutters, but issue them to everyone who boards a plane.
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As far as I can see the US is turning into the type of police state where people are no longer allowed to defend themselves. No, I'm not an NRA member. Although I believe in the right to bear arms, I also realize that more injuries occur from simply having a gun in the house than from home invasions.
But, back to the subject of people defending themselves, the primary defense against crime (including terrorism) is for the victims to fight back. The greatest boost to crime comes when the government (usually the police) tell people not to fight back. Yes, it protects the individual-but it sacrifices society.
There are problems with every approach I've seen-from encouraging people to report suspicious activity ("Joe stole my girlfriend, what can I do to get back at him?") to government monitoring. (Multiple problems there-from government officials that don't do their job to those that do their job, but sell the information they gather from it.)
IMO the proper approach is education. I'm not sure it will work-basically I believe that people, when they understand why they should act for the betterment of all even when the circumstances work against themselves, will do so. That's not the case now, and many people disagree with me. According to them, that's human nature-and it doesn't change. IMO, that's human thought patterns & the way to change it is to show people why it's to their long-term benefit to change.
There's a lot to be done in this regard. Providing jobs, for example-one of the reasons (IIRC an article I read) many youth join gangs, including terrorist gangs, is because it's the only way they see to make their lives better. Show them another way, without resorting to violence, and in many cases they'll take it-but the way they see it (and I don't disagree with them) a violent way is better than no way. If it works (and that's where I do disagree with them.)