Offense Against Private Property Rights? I think not

Reader comment on: The TSA as Taker

Submitted by Rachel Ornstein (United States), Nov 21, 2012 19:16

I am one of Mr. Stoll's longstanding fans and am an admirer of the precision of his thinking and the way he holds others to the high standard of his fine intellect. That said, I do take mild issue with his statement that some of the ways of the TSA veer "awfully close to an...offense against private property rights."

The TSA, acting on behalf of the Department of Homeland Security, is not in any way interfering with private property rights in any of its actions. Airline passengers may own snow globes as big as the Ritz, humongous saws, gargantuan hand tools, ginormous pairs of scissors and gallons of shampoo, hair conditioner, mouthwash and gel.

What passengers may not do, however, is carry them in the luggage or purses (or murses!) they bring into the passenger section of a commercial airliner. As one who was not only X-rayed, but also groped (with my permission) as recently as two weeks ago before boarding a flight, I have to say that if this, and the genuine inconvenience of traveling with minuscule amounts of grooming liquids, is the price of flying today, so be it.

Fortunately, the TSA does not control what quantities of anything I can own, privately, on the ground, inside my home. When its agents start searching for such things in my residence, I will conclude that my right of ownership of private property has indeed been violated.

Happy Thanksgiving to the Editor of Future of Capitalism and his readers.


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