There wasn't this BS with liquids or removing your shoes and the people running the process had less power over you because they weren't wannabe cops working for the federal government.
This illustrates the misunderstandings about the TSA.
The TSA didn't make up the liquids rule. The British did and then they promulgated those rules up through the ICAO (international civil aviation organization).
The TSA implemented the rule because the US is a member of the ICAO, as did many other countries.
If the TSA didn't exist, the FAA or DOT would have implemented the liquid rule instead and a private security contractor would be throwing away water bottles instead of "wannabe cops working for the federal government".
You're arguing two separate points as if they're the same thing.
Point 1: the TSA in particular is not at fault for the modern state of airport security
Point 2: airport security is better than it has been since the 60s
You spent most of your first post arguing point 2, which is counter to my own experience, and which GP contradicted. Rather than address their points, you've ignored their argument and switched to point 1, which they didn't even challenge.
My summary of the situation: the culture of fear that arose in the wake of 9/11 has resulted in a slough of changes that as a whole have made the experience of getting on a plane materially worse than it was prior to 9/11. One of those changes was the establishment of the TSA. While the TSA does not itself bear much if any of the responsibility for the problems with the security process, they do serve as a figurehead for all of those changes. And yes, I agree with GP that airport security is much more inconvenient than it was in the 90s.
My indicator is how early you're advised to arrive before a flight. In the 80s and 90s, the common wisdom was to show up an hour early, or an hour and a half to two hours for international flights. After 9/11, that bumped up to an hour and a half for domestic, and now after COVID, they recommend 2 hours or more for a domestic flight, 3 during holidays.
Comments
This illustrates the misunderstandings about the TSA.
The TSA didn't make up the liquids rule. The British did and then they promulgated those rules up through the ICAO (international civil aviation organization).
The TSA implemented the rule because the US is a member of the ICAO, as did many other countries.
If the TSA didn't exist, the FAA or DOT would have implemented the liquid rule instead and a private security contractor would be throwing away water bottles instead of "wannabe cops working for the federal government".
Same with shoes.
https://www.icao.int/Security/SFP/LAGS_STEBS/Documents/A%20h...
The TSA can't even change anything if they try. They only implement rules as directed by Congress, the FAA, and the ICAO.
They tried to unban knives because their analysis showed that knives posed no threat to aircraft, but were overruled by Congress.
https://www.cnn.com/2013/06/05/travel/tsa-knives/index.html
You're arguing two separate points as if they're the same thing.
Point 1: the TSA in particular is not at fault for the modern state of airport security
Point 2: airport security is better than it has been since the 60s
You spent most of your first post arguing point 2, which is counter to my own experience, and which GP contradicted. Rather than address their points, you've ignored their argument and switched to point 1, which they didn't even challenge.
My summary of the situation: the culture of fear that arose in the wake of 9/11 has resulted in a slough of changes that as a whole have made the experience of getting on a plane materially worse than it was prior to 9/11. One of those changes was the establishment of the TSA. While the TSA does not itself bear much if any of the responsibility for the problems with the security process, they do serve as a figurehead for all of those changes. And yes, I agree with GP that airport security is much more inconvenient than it was in the 90s.
My indicator is how early you're advised to arrive before a flight. In the 80s and 90s, the common wisdom was to show up an hour early, or an hour and a half to two hours for international flights. After 9/11, that bumped up to an hour and a half for domestic, and now after COVID, they recommend 2 hours or more for a domestic flight, 3 during holidays.
This is a bad indicator because the driving force behind it are the retail establishments inside almost every modern airport.