It really doesn't matter WHY they are doing the job. What matters is that they ARE doing the job.
I agree 100%. But then I am writing this from the relative comfort of an 18th Floor office with a superb view of Tokyo. Others who are actually doing the job (and I was as a student financing my studies) may feel differently.
At that level most staff don't identify that much with the job they are doing. That's just the way it is. They will change jobs for 0.20c more an hour. That's just the way it is. And, let's face it, why should they consider the job any more important that many of the decision-makers do? If they are paid peanuts, that's a clear indication of how the job is considered by people who decide what kind of money they should be making.
Just because these people have an important job with a real and tangible responsibility doesn't mean that they recognise it. Once the bureaucrats who run organisations like the TSA (and that could be replaced by any number of similar organisations worldwide - with one notable exception: Israel) actually demonstrate in word and action that these people truly are important and deserve to be remunerated accordingly, then possibly, just possibly, we may see these security screeners beginning to identify with their jobs and show the sense of responsibility that we expect from them. As a by-product, we might see some truly exceptional people applying for these jobs because the appreciation and perception of the job will have improved positively.
I may sound like a trade-unionist, but actually that would be a long way from the truth. What I do dislike is the hypocrisy of putting these people in a no-win situation.