Homeland Security or Home Security

The New York Times of Sunday, Sept. 3 reported on the Homeland Security Department’s failures in applying more efficient, cutting-edge technologies to screen U.S. airports for bombs. The report blamed “poor management for stumbles in research, turf fights, staff turnover and underfinancing. Some initiatives have also faced opposition from the airlines or been slowed by bureaucratic snarls.”

No one who has followed public interest stories for any length of time is surprised when any government – federal, state, local, or foreign – fails to accomplish its goals as quickly and efficiently as planned. Government and its Siamese twin, politics, are not designed, nor have they evolved, to follow the principles of the marketplace. Whether you applaud or fret over the government’s approach – whether you want it run “like a business” or prefer it to serve as a counterweight to “unbridled capitalism” – the fact is that the political balance of power invariably creates tensions and conflicts that keep it from operating like the ordered marketplace.

By contrast, the real marketplace, with its unending competition for customers and the search for the perfect balance of price, quality, and volume – all aimed at maximizing profits – usually operates with stunning efficiency. And once we admit there’s not much you or I can do to ensure greater security in our national transportation system, we’re free to turn our attention to the security we can control: protecting our own homes or businesses.

CLICK HERE FOR FULL ARTICLE.