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Well, here is another kettle of fish entirely. Suffice to say you are sorely mistaken if you think the currect security standards accomplish anything except inconveniencing travelers and flight crews and are bringing about the ruination of the airline industry.
First off, I just want to kill this before it sparks a huge tangent. I used airport security as an example of how compromising set standards can be detrimental. I too think the security in place now is a joke. It will be years before they get that right, and at the expense of the industry itself.
Quote:the abolishment of polygraphy as a pre-employment screening tool is the goal, then by necessity the public will be the catalyst, not the institution, for change.
I agree, except that the public cannot physically make the change to the institution. That change must be made internally, under intese public pressure. But I think we are basically saying the same thing here.
Quote:these select few are more often than not highly biased against change for a number of subjective, self-serving reasons.
Totally agree. In my experience, the individuals who were most resistant to any sort of change to a system (for the better) were the ones who skated throught that system and continued to excel, with little to no effort on their part.
Quote:Coupled with these few examples one can add the constant desperate harping of the polygraphers themselves into the ears of these select few that the polygraph really truly does work
I can hear the polygraphers in their boss's office now -- "You want me on that wall, you need me on that wall!"
It is the most self serving system I have seen. How does a polygrapher justify his work? By how many suspected spies and druggies he "catches?" Where is the quality control on the false positives he generates to bump up his numbers? No, if you complain about failing a polygraph, your voice isn't even heard. (My letter of appeal to the FBI is still sitting in the Local Division HQ SAC's office -- over 2 months and no action has been taken. Unbelievable.)
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Thomas Sowell once wrote,
"The most basic question is not what is best but who shall decide what is best."
For the reasons I note above (as well as I'm sure many similar) I submit that the head of a Federal Government agency should rarely if ever be the 'who' of who shall decide what is best.
Great quote. Of course these individuals rarely make decisions without input and suggestions from their staff, as well as precedent set by sister agencies. But unfortunately, for the system to work properly, the agency has to change itself. The people can't cheat the system because they feel it is "unfair." This undermines the authority of the system and in turn, makes the agency weak. (see example of old lady getting strip search).
Quote:Countermeasures render as totally impotent the polygraph examination phase of the screening process.
Using countermeasures is like a form of vigilanteism -- the people know it is the right thing to do and the system won't do it so damn it, we'll take matters into our own hands.
It's wrong. You won't convince me otherwise. I know the system sucks, I know it is flawed. But their wrong doesn't allow me to do another wrong (two wrongs don't make a right?). The best I can do is try my damndest to gain employment
within the confines of the system, and if not, apply as much public pressure to the institution so that a change is made, not for me, but for those like me down the road.
Quote: these are clear and egregious unfair standards that serve no possible purpose.
Your opinion of the standards set is your opinion, and unfortuantely, has no bearing, unless of course the standard is unjust. But unfair (subjective) does not equal unjust (objective).
Quote:The standard that an applicant pass an unscientific physiologically measured interrogation (in which the truly honest have a high likelyhood of failing, owing to their lack of response to control questions) is, I submit, an unfair standard.
I agree, it is unfair, but not unjust. The EPPA does not cover all agencies, so this remains unfair. Public pressure, of course, can be the catalyst (as you said) to make the change.
Quote:Speaking personally, I would not let an unfair standard set by a select few who have the concerns I noted above dictate my pursuit of happiness. If a standard such as education, prior experience, physical agility, or even age must be met, these are all standards one can meet given the will of the applicant.
I agree, but I will stop short of taking matters into my own hands. I couldn't live with myself, even though I was right, if I used countermeasures to pass a polygraph. It's a sophisticated form of lying, just like the polygraph "test". Again, I'm not compounding the polygraph problem with a lack of morals in using countermeasures. It's just not for me.
Chris