London anti-terror posters - Is instilling fear a good thing?

London cops are putting up these posters around their town. These signs advise Londoners to go through each others' trash-bins looking for "suspicious" chemical bottles and to report on one another for "studying CCTV cameras."

What do you think about this campaign? Is it effective or is it teaching the wrong message?

Boing Boing

Tags: anti-terror, london, posters

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Permalink Reply by Will on March 25, 2009 at 1:39pm

I don't think the public is trained well enough to rely on as a means of surveillance. People have a tendency to fear what they don't know or are not familiar with. At the same time, the neighbor buying 20 bags of fertilizer when he or she barely has a yard will escape notice.

The ultimate aim of terrorism isn't to wipe all of us out... it's to destroy our way of life through fear. If you saw a poster like this, who would you think is winning the so-called war on terror?

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Permalink Reply by sAm on March 25, 2009 at 2:03pm

I think the campaign is about raising awareness. Everyone can do their part in keeping an eye out for unusual things. That may just be enough to prevent a terrorist attack. It may make people a little paranoid but if it succeeds in saving lives then its a success.

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Permalink Reply by David on March 26, 2009 at 8:18am

London scares me.

Back at home studying CCTV cameras out of curiosity would be a daily activity for me.

Do I deserve to be arrested, held indefinitely under the patriot act?

I don't think so.

Minority Report in the future?

People are unreliable, especially the public.

I believe that being scared of terrorists, changing the way you live your life, is letting them win.

Living in fear, giving up your liberties is exactly what both big brother and the terrorists want.

As Mr. Franklin wisely put- "“Those who desire to give up freedom in order to gain security will not have, nor do they deserve, either one.”"