A new word – “security theatre”

An interesting article in Wired seems to agree rather with my last post, as well as giving me the priceless gift of a new word, “security theatre”, or official activity intended to convey a false impression of security. (Thanks due to Slugger O’Toole)..Mind you, it also bears out something I think I lost given the surprising doom-sodden tone below, which is that even if it is impossible to prevent terrorism, the numbers are on our side. Given the chances of being a victim, and the effectiveness of fairly simple precautions, it’s possible to knock a big chunk out of the odds. The best may well be the enemy of the good here – it’s very possible that, in a futile search for absolute security, we render life intolerably vexing, expensive, inefficient, oppressive and wearyingly paranoid.

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