<i>If it weren&#x27;t the state, it could just as easily have been an ordinary mugger, or an airline employee theft, or simple airline incompetence.</i><p>We, as a society condemn muggers and thieves. We, as a society hold airlines responsible for safely transporting baggage without losing it or its contents. We lock muggers and thieves in cages to discourage such behavior and isolate those who perpetrate it from everyone else. We require airlines to pay compensation (up to $3000 in the US) to people whose property they lose.<p>We should similarly condemn the state behaving in a way that produces the same result as a mugger.