Governance Theatre
TSA & Governance Theatre—American Life Expectancy continues to fall—Existential Anxiety
Ticket No3 is a short, weekly newsletter format from The Alpine Review, where I share three things that drew my attention ‘at some point’ (i.e. not always based on recency or novelty). This is an experiment and will evolve based on perseverance and feedback. I’m curious to know what you think.
If you only want to hear when the next Alpine Review is ready, you can opt out of Ticket No3 here.
This week I share this long piece on the TSA which, on top of being fascinating on its own, provides an excuse to discuss governance theatre, a concept I find useful. Second, the life expectancy signal was an obvious choice because of the ramifications on the state of ‘progress’ as a society. Finally, for those who, like me, grapple with a mild form of existential anxiety, I found the last ticket comprehensive and useful — LJ
Not even death can exempt you from TSA screening
“The most generous independent estimates of the cost-effectiveness of the TSA’s airport security screening put the cost per life saved at around $15 million. And that makes two big assumptions: first, that the agency is both 100 percent effective and 100 percent responsible for stopping all terror attacks; and second, that it stops an attack on the scale of 9/11 about once a decade. Less optimistic assessments place the number at $667 million per life saved.”
Is the TSA a colossal waste of money? An interesting read for a variety of angles on #governance, including security theatre, tradeoffs and how governments value life.
Pearl from the comments:
“Devil's advocate: calculate the entire cost of the 9/11 attacks, including the cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. How much would you be willing to pay to prevent that? A successful terrorist attack does not just kill people. It also changes policy.” (via MR)
Want to go deeper? — explore Curtis Yarvin’s ideas on governance theatre.
“most of what most governments do is theater”
Pair the above with this piece by the Zvi on car seat requirements as contraception and you’ve got a full set.
American life expectancy continues to fall
The cracks in our foundations are starting to show. Americans are dying younger and this is not just a consequence of the pandemic (it did play a role, but so did chronic disease (heart, liver), deaths of despair (suicide, accidental overdose, opioids, etc.), and increase in automobile-related deaths (+10.5% vs. 2021). It’s hard to think this is a temporary blip given all the stories revealing the cracks in our social infrastructures, and criminality on the rise (amongst other data points: 73 police officers were killed in the line of duty in 2021, a 59% increase from the year before — per FBI Director Christopher Wray).
On existential anxiety
Talking to someone about existential issues helps. Causes, treatments, & how to cope with existential anxiety.
I call them tickets because they opened a door in my mind and briefly turned me into an investigator, wanting to know more. Perhaps they will have the same effect on you.
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