[extropy-chat] Re: Profile the Great Satan? (Peter Fedak)

[Peter Fedak]

Mike Lorrey wrote:

"On the contrary, anyone with a muslim name who is not a citizen of
Afghanistan or Pakistan but has spent 2-12 consecutive months in one of
those countries since 1992 has, more than likely, attended an al Qaeda camp
or has taught in a terrorist recruitment madrassa.

The odds of such a person being a terrorist up to no good is astronomically
greater than those 80 year old white grandmas that TSA loves to strip search
so frequently. Really, the job can be done so much more efficiently if we
get over this idiotic fixation against all ethnic profiling as inherently
'wrong'. As polls show 85% of african-americans approve of profiling
muslims, its apparent the queasiness is only among the guilty left elites."

An assumption is not grounds for an act, nor is a poll. Strip searching 80
year old Muslim grandmas is no better than 80 year old white grandmas, and
will produce the same empty results. The assumption is not universal. To
profile you would have to be so exacting in your assumptions that you would
catch the criminal at the moment of intent, which is impossible. And if you
were profiling, the criminal would catch on and find ways around the system.

Polling an ethnic group to profile any other group will also probably
produce even poll results across the board. Poll whites to profile blacks,
poll blacks to profile Muslims, poll X to profile Y, you will find the
people will accept it, as long as group X has reason to believe group Y
threatens them in some way, especially since there is still racism and
prejudice prevalent in our society, however hard we try to hide it or look
away. Unfortunately, this is a short-sighted, selfish view that will produce
little results. Racial profiling, or any selective sampling, will not catch
the exceptions to any rule. Recent terrorism in the US is proof in itself:
Timothy McVeigh, Jose Padilla, Ted Kaczynsky, John Walker Lindh... These
individuals were not necessarily in or from the Middle East, nor did they
attend a military camp there. So profiling is useless, as is using a poll to
justify it.

If the entire problem is to be addressed, a step back should be taken to
analyze the broader picture. The US's market economy is very strong and the
way of life here is vastly different from other parts of the world. Some
people live in poverty, some live in wealth. However, few live better than
Americans. So, knowing human nature, what would make those with little the
most upset? Those with the more than them. As the wealthiest nation, we are
wearing a red, white and blue target for that resentment. How can it be
resolved? The answer to that would solve the problem of terrorism.
The Libertarian view is one of non-involvement, financially and
responsibility-wise, which could be one solution. However, non-involvement
also led to this mess in the first place, as in assuming we are impervious
and faultless. Now that the holes in our armor are found, we should analyze
these issues and, rather than leaving those holes open and moving on, try to
understand why we had these problems in the first place and devise ways to
prevent it next time.

Peter Fedak


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