Even the most authoritarian institutions sometimes find themselves constrained by our power of exit. We may not have any real control — any voice — over how they’re run or the decisions they make. But we can still sometimes refuse to give them our money.
In the nearby town of Fayetteville, Arkansas, voters angered by the unaccountable decision of the school board to shut down old neighborhood schools expressed their anger through a “No” vote a few years ago on a millage increase.
This year voters in my own town of Springdale similarly voted down a millage increase after the unaccountable school administration closed down a segment of Emma Avenue (our Main Street) to build a palatial high school addition across it.
At the hospital where I work, the administrators decided to close down the Pediatrics ward and admit pediatric patients to vacant beds on the main post-operative care ward instead. Unfortunately for them, they realized at the last minute that every single one of their pediatric nurses had found jobs at other hospitals, and they would be unable to admit pediatric patients at all. As a result, they caved in, left the Peds ward open, and begged the nurses to stay.
In response to the latest demonstration of the power of exit — the organized movement at WeWontFly.com to “opt out” of air travel over the Thanksgiving holiday — TSA Director Pistole and Homeland Security Secretary Napolitano are already in panic mode, squealing about it like stuck pigs. So you know it’s struck home.
John Pistole sniffed that it was “irresponsible” to opt out of measures that “could prevent an attack using non-metallic explosives.” This is typical bureaucratic smugness. “It has been determined” (apparently on Mount Sinai) that this particular set of bureaucratic measures is the one, true way to “protect our safety.” And anyone who doesn’t comply with what “has been determined” by the neutral, disinterested, generic expertise of The Authorities is being “irresponsible.”
Um, no. Actual, flesh and blood human beings determine — active voice — policies based on their own subjective judgment and private interests. And when such policies “are determined” by bureaucrats, more often than not they’re stupid. They certainly are in this case. Outside the security-industrial complex, body scans are widely regarded as little more than a “Security Theatre” measure for public consumption.
It’s time to teach these smug “Authorities” a lesson. They say “flying is a privilege, not a right,” as if compliance with an internal passport system was simply an appropriate display of gratitude for the “favor” they do you in allowing you to travel inside your own country. It’s time to show them that it’s a privilege to collect our money, and they can’t count on continuing to collect money from people they abuse.
The U.S. Post Office has had to adapt, in recent years, to losing a major share of its business to email. Airlines, similarly, should lose business to teleconferencing as business travelers find their “peep or grope” alternative increasingly degrading. If the airlines lost every passenger who now regularly engages in non-essential business travel for purposes that could be accomplished by teleconferencing, they’d really be hurting.
Let’s start by participating in National Opt Out Day. This is a nationwide protest scheduled for the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, November 24. If you can avoid using air travel at all, please do so — and continue to avoid air travel whenever possible. If you can’t avoid it, say “I opt out” and force the TSA goons to pat you down. If they pat you down in a way that you consider in any way inappropriate, file a complaint with law enforcement. And if you have time, participate in the airport protests being organized on November 24 by WeWontFly.com.
Citations to this article:
- Kevin Carson, The Power of Exit: Boycott Air Travel, Des Moines, Iowa Free Press, 11/16/10
Opting to get groped and sexually molested instead of having your naked body leered at, is NOT "Boycotting Air Travel"! If you want the real deal – people who refuse to compromise and are not flying at ALL – join us: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Boycott-Flying/1268…
@Mark — See above. "If you can avoid using air travel at all, please do so — and continue to avoid air travel whenever possible. If you can’t avoid it…"
and, then we stand accused of not understanding their understanding and efforts to obtain justice, peace, eternal progress, etc. unknown author
Accused of not understanding their understanding it all sounds so strange to say the least. It does look like we are about to find out just how much we do understand.
Sic semper tyrannis
I think there is a better solution here. There are charter services of all types that fly into and out of more airports than the big airlines. It doesn't make sense to charter a flight for one person, but if there were some website that allowed people in city X to pool their money and charter a flight to city Y *together*, the additional cost would be marginal for the savings in time and hassle.
I say we let the free market take care of things and try to help these smaller operations compete with the big boys…
Opt for the rub-down.. I mean pat-down, and wear this at the same time:
http://skreened.com/oped/junk-search
It's not your own country. With the arguable exceptions of the Alaska Purchase and the Jackson Purchase (which were certainly paid for with ill gotten gains, and very possibly not bought from rightful owners), every last bit of it was obtained under duress or even outright stolen. On the principle that he who comes to equity must come with clean hands, it is open to these people to assert that they are doing no additional injustice in doing these things, given their victims' own unjust presence which needs such injustices to continue (that last can be read in at least two senses).
Time to seek out and utilize air travel options not affected by TSA B.S. — things like charter, local private pilots, small regional airlines that have structured their ops to avoid as much Federal B.S. as possible, etc… .
NOTE: Local private pilots can offer suprisingly affordable options and even private charter can be very affordable when done in groups. Another option (if you fly alot) is to get together with a local private pilot, and some friends, and set up a group ownership arrangement of an aircraft that meets most of the group's needs. Some recommended, affordable, capable aircraft: cessna 206, cessna 210, cessna caravan, king air 100, and the king air 200 (most, especially non-aviator types, will be happiest with the caravan and king air aircraft).
As a matter of national security, a responsible person would avoid flying as much as possible. As these security measures make clear, airplanes are an immense risk to the safety of passengers and potential victims on the ground (e.g. the occupants of the WTC buildings).
It's time for us to decide whether flying is safe, in which case we can do so freely, or whether it is intolerably dangerous, and should only be done when absolutely necessary. In the meantime, the state should stop subsidizing it.
Re: "No one special": The websites that you speak of do exist…at least, they have existed. There was one website intended for general-purpose group purchases, but I think they is defunct. I think there is some economics term for a contract that is not activated until a certain condition in met (something more extensive than having two signers) — if I knew that term, I could probably find the website, or others like it.
There are also carpooling websites and taxi-sharing websites, which would have to be modified to handle this sort of arrangement.
Re: “No one special”: Assurance contract — that's the term.
http://www.marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolut…
Fundable.com went under. Here are some websites via Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assurance_contract#E…
National Opt Out day isn't opting out of flying. It's opting out of the Nude-O-Scope scan, asking for the pat-down instead, and insisting on the pat-down being done in the private room.
Since their SOP is to direct people to the Nude-O-Scope whenever there is nobody in line for it, and they only have one private pat-down room, this will greatly back-log the Nude-O-Scope lane, tie up countless agents, and create general chaos.
The TSA has three choices – force thousands of fliers to miss their flights, pay major amounts of overtime and set up impromptu private screen rooms, or abandon the Nude-O-Scopes.
It seems to me that we would, indeed, do well to opt out of flying — to boycott the airports and airlines — until not only the pornoscanners but all the other relics of the Bush/Obama air travel nightmare have been eliminated: until our friends can meet us at arrival gates and we can accompany our loved ones to departure gates even if we're not traveling; until we can check in immediately before take-off; until we can walk quickly through simple metal detectors rather than removing our shoes and personal belongings for time-consuming inspections; until toothpaste tubes and nail clippers are no longer treated as dangerous weapons. Challenging the scanners is a great first step, but we can't let up the pressure until the misrule of the TSA has been ended entirely.
re: "National Opt Out day isn’t opting out of flying."
It's about opting out of the scanners IF you're not able to boycott air travel completely. This is reflected by the Opt Out Day being pushed by the group pushing the broader boycott effort, We Won't Fly (which seems a pretty clear name). http://wewontfly.com/opt-out-day
It is in an airline company's best interest financially to provide safe travel – injured and/or dead passengers and crew (and/or 3rd parties involved on the ground) do not make for a financially healthy company. In a truly free society an airline company would offer grades/levels of services including safety, and customers would purchase according to their individual value structure. Airlines would, in such a society, likely have plane flights of varying levels of pre-boarding screening to prevent possible in-flight violence – to the extent that the company's managers perceived that in-flight violence was a concern of air travelers – just as they might provide separate flights for smokers, families with young children, or those with unique interests/concerns.
My recommended current measures for those needing to travel are:
– Fly commercial airlines *only* when absolutely necessary for physical presence quickly;
– If flying for the above – loudly proclaim objection to search/scan measures & complying *only* because of necessary flight;
– Publicize why not flying;
– Do not voluntarily associate with TSA agents – negative Social Preferencing;
– Publicize names and photos of TSA agents so that others can negatively Social Preference (TSA cannot operate as currently if very few individuals are willing to scan/grope);
– Be identifiable in all the above since anonymity does *not* engender highest level of support.
The suggestions for non airlines flying options made above are very good – and hopefully will be expanded by group(s) coordinating private pilots/charters and prospective passengers.
Thank you, It is time to boycott flying for these TSA abuses and the financial abuses of the airlines among others. What if a rape victim was to get sexually assaulted by a TSA worker. I would have their behind in jail so fast it's not funny. TAKE THE BUS, THE TRAIN, whatever it takes. Face it, You will save money and time and not get raped in the process. Thanks, Lets get media coverage and organize a boycott. Even one day would put the airlines away for good and give us the power back.
We've put some opt-out lyrics (Take Your Planes and Shove 'Em), on our blog, to be sung to Johnny Paycheck's famous tune Take This Job and Shove It. Enjoy!
Please join my Meetup group to protest the TSA by boycotting all air travel in the United States. Copy and paste the link to the Meetup below and send it to everyone you know across the country. The goal is to make the airlines empty by next year and send the freshmen Congress the following message:
Disband the TSA
Repeal the Patriot Act
Repeal all un-Constitutional laws
There are no dues or fees for my Meetup. Noone is requried to attend meetings. It is strictly a tool to organize a simultaneous, cohesive boycott of all air travel in the United States. Nobody will fly until the freshmen Congress ends the slide towards Marxism. Please join my Meetup:
the National Boycott of Airline Travel 2011 http://www.meetup.com/National-Boycott-of-Airline…
Dr. King organized a boycott of an Alabama bus company to put an end to a discriminatory policy towards blacks. Well, this Meetup is a modern version of the same idea. The only difference is IT'S NOT JUST MINORITIES BEING MARGINALIZED.