system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
CMV: The TSA is a massive waste of money and should be abolished.

I've been traveling a lot recently and have come to the conclusion that the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is an gigantic waste of money.

First, the policies put in place by the TSA are designed to combat very specific instances of terrorism, most of which have never successfully carried out, or even realistically attempted. The biggest advancement in combating terrorism was the introduction of the door to the cockpit, not the creation of the TSA itself. Even more damning are the numerous studies that have shown that the TSA has actually led to *MORE* deaths than they have prevented. On flights of shorter distances (say from Boston to New York City), the increased wait times caused by the TSA have made many people turn to other means of transportation, mainly driving. Rather than wait for hours in security lines and then get on a plane for a 40 minute flight, people are instead driving these distances themselves. The total time spent traveling is roughly the same as it is to drive. Because of these passengers who are now driving instead of flying, analysts estimate that roughly 130 people die per quarter as a direct result of choosing to drive rather than fly. To put that into perspective, a terrorist would have to hijack and crash a fully-loaded 737 once every 3 months to reach the same death total over the course of a year.

Secondly, these policies have seemed to be implemented and followed at random. The policies that are in place are not carried out universally from airport to airport, and in some cases, not even from terminal to terminal at the same airport. In the past week alone, I went from having to remove my shoes, belt, jacket, and laptop, emptying my pockets, and walking through a body scanner, to simply emptying my pockets of any metal objects and walking through a metal detector. 

Lastly, the TSA is wildly ineffective at doing it's job, despite having a budget of $7.55B last year. A recent audit conducted by the Department of Homeland Security in which planted passengers had contraband in their carry-on bags (such as firearms, fake bombs, and various other items expressly prohibited by the TSA regulations) resulted in what could only be described as a failing grade. Over 95% of the planted contraband went passed through the security checkpoints at various airports undetected. More importantly, only 14% of passengers are flagged by TSA, and of that 14%, a minuscule 0.6% of passengers who were flagged were actually arrested (mostly for drug possession, but absolutely zero related to terrorism).

While I understand the need for security at airports, the TSA is an absolute waste of money and should be abolished and replaced with privatized security firms, which have been shown time and time again to be more successful at recognizing and addressing security threats in the smaller airports where they have been implemented. The goal of the TSA was to help combat terrorism, but due to inconsistent policies, and unsuccessful and ineffective practices, the TSA has instead turned into a massive waste of money and time.
gpt
The stated view breaks down as:

* "The TSA is a massive waste of money"
* "Therefore, the TSA should be abolished"

I think the most likely way to change this view is to attack the second half - instead of abolishing the TSA, perhaps the best solution is to reform/improve it.

You've asserted that privatized security firms are capable of doing the same job more effectively, ideally at the same or reduced cost.

Private sector organizations face competitive pressure to perform, and comparatively less bureaucratic overhead to change. This does mean that they're more likely to improve faster. But, crucially, there's nothing about being private-sector or public-sector that inherently affects efficiency. 

The TSA *could* adopt the lessons, learnings, and policies of private-sector organizations, and become nearly as effective. This would possibly be easier than the massive political battle of abolishing an entire govt. organization, and rewriting legislation, to accomplish the same effect.

In summary - your view is correct in that the TSA (as-is) is a massive waste of money. But, there are solutions other than abolishing it.