The Great Wall in the Sky
Some two thousand years ago a Chinese imperator had decided to build a wall against the intrusion by some nomadic tribes. He started with building a wall on the northwest section of his empire in order to protect his vassals and thereby his economical interests. The building of the wall continued until the 11th century. That immense wall wouldn’t last long when a tribal leader who later would be called “Genghis Khan” had set his eyes on the area beyond the wall. Once the wall gone, it was then very easy for the Mongols to penetrate the rest of the empire and claim everything what was “protected”.
Is there a lesson to be learned from the Chinese wall when it comes to building protections against the “unwanted elements” towards a society? I think there is. I am afraid that argument: “It is for your own protection” is able to sell anything to us and it is being used every new day more often then the previous day. With the so-called premeditated attacks now, apparently originating from London towards the USA, we are entering a new area of travel security and thereby giving in again voluntarily to our civil liberties and creating another discomfort to ourselves.
Since the “enemy” nowadays can penetrate our way of life from the sky using civilian aircrafts, we of course have to build a wall in the sky in order to protect our living space.
The catastrophe that will come, when the wall in the sky inevitably will be brought down, will be bigger then the moment when the Great Wall of China had lost its functionality.
The prepared attack of “London” had enormous costs for the travel industry, especially the first couple of days where we had to process so many cancellations that I thought for a moment that soon the whole air travel and consequently traveling itself would collapse.
From the environmental point of view it would not be bad at all if the number of flights worldwide would decrease instead of keeping increasing. But if flying is going to be only an exclusive activity for the elite then I am afraid that this would only decrease our chances finding new solutions for our carbon based lifestyle. The situation created at the London airports on the 10th of August was of course not meant to decrease the impact of human activity on the environment. The question we should be asking to ourselves is whether we should accept the solution that the bureaucrats are presenting to us. I guess that the arguments that are nowadays used by the politicians are not much different from the time of the Chinese emperor who had decided to build the wall against the intruders. We, the taxpayers, do not have to consume the same argument 2000 years later again.
Mother Nature has blessed Homo sapiens with a lot of creativity. It would not take much thinking that imposed security measurements, installed after 9/11 attack, would not cover our security if someone wanted to do something bad. The English security service had claimed that there was evidence of some people planning to use some liquids in order to create a blast in the airplane and hence all the hand luggage was forbidden to be taken on board of airplanes apart from necessary traveling documents. I don’t think that it would be that difficult to carry explosive liquid in your body if you are already able to create it. It is just needs the willingness of a person. Therefore I am not able to consume the arguments provided by the security advisers and with that I also don’t agree that this could be the way in which a state should protect its citizens from possible attacks.
Another argument comes with it as well; the fact that every security measurement relies on human beings that are going to apply and check the suggested rules. In here lies of course the most important hole. Just after couple of days later when the new rules about the carry-on limits were introduced a 59 year-old-woman, who had boarded a Washington bound airplane from London Heathrow, had caused a diversion of the destination of the airplane. After a careful search at the airport of Boston it was discovered that she had brought cigarette lighters, a screwdriver and several bottled liquids. Involved countries will probably also increase the check on people who are working at these airports; this will affect certain minorities who are working in or around an airport. Excluding certain minorities from certain jobs will not improve the lost synchronization of these minorities into these societies.
It is also ironic that the Great Wall of China, which was originally meant for the protection of people beyond it, is also called the longest graveyard in the world. I am afraid with its size the new suggested wall in the sky will one day collapse and fall on our heads, turning the whole earth into a graveyard. Unfortunately, by then there won’t be anybody to tell anymore:” Here lies the human specie”.
Tags: protection, terrorism, travel industry