Condoms - YOU MIGHT BE REPORTED TO DHS IF YOU BUY TO MANY

One of the most startling developments in the War on Terror, was when the Department of Homeland Security started classifying previously benign behaviors and beliefs as signs of terrorism. 

Are you a conservative or a libertarian? Terrorist. Are you an evangelical Christian? Terrorist. Have you ever taken pictures of monuments or infrastructure? Super terrorist.

Now the DHS is starting to apply that same logic to other crimes, like sex trafficking. They’re going to start teaching hotel staff how to spot the tell-tale signs of sex trafficking, which include “seeing too many condoms in garbage cans,” “frequent use of ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign,” and if “the minibar needs to be frequently restocked.” So I guess if you’re on your honeymoon, you might be suspected of sex trafficking.

Some of the items on the list make sense, like if someone “claims to be an adult but looks adolescent.” But the vast majority of these behaviors are what you would expect from a normal hotel patron, or at worst, a prostitute peddling consensual sex. Many of them make absolutely no sense when considered together like “guests with too many personal hygiene products, especially ‘lubrication, douches'”and “guests with too few personal possessions.” And of course, the list wouldn’t be complete without “rooms paid for with cash or a rechargeable credit card.” In this day an age, anyone caught using currency that can’t be traced must be guilty of something.

Essentially, this list is designed to do the same thing that Homeland Security’s criteria for terrorism suspects is supposed to do: Turn normal behavior into suspicious behavior, make us paranoid of everyone we meet, train us to snitch on our fellow citizens, and foster a climate of fear in America. This shouldn’t come as a surprise, because the employees of DHS would be out of a job if we weren’t so afraid.