What to do about terrorism

Uh.. The problem isn't video games, it is largely a function of the massive unemployment rate among young men in Middle Eastern countries. As far as the Westerners joining terrorist groups.. Look how Muslims are treated in Euro countries. It isn't a coincidence that the Euro countries that are the least welcoming of Muslims are also the countries that most export fighters to Islamic groups.

 

Why do people join any sort of armed group?

 

Because young men are young, stupid, and bored. Add in a generous mix of their culture being marginalized, if not vilified, by the society they live in and you've got the perfect environment for some well-spoken person to come in and recruit them into doing something they might not otherwise do. Add in just how easy it is to get from Europe to the Middle East and you've got people that are doing it on "a whim" and then finding out they simply can't go back if they find out they made a horrible, horrible decision.

Seriously, the US's treatment of Muslim's is just as bad as the worst Euro countries, but it is a real b***h to get from the US to the Middle East to join the fighting and that's largely why more Americans aren't joining Islamic groups.

 

It isn't anything new... why did men with a range of choices devote themselves to the SS, to the blackshirts, to the Jesuits, to the Inquisition, to piracy, etc etc.

Unemployment can affect volume-- but there are always going to be at least a few who see a politico-religious system as a destiny, a purity, as the only moral choice, what have you...

 

Wasn't there an old saying, "The first son inherits, the second makes a good marriage, the third joins the army, the fourth the priesthood, the fifth the revolution."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soldier_Son_Trilogy

That's a crock of shit, but to be expected from you.

 

Stop creating the conditions that foment Islamic fundamentalism. So stop occupying Middle Eastern countries, stop funding brutal regimes there, etc.

And of course, stop participating in terrorism ourselves. But that's not even up for debate. "Terrorism" only means what is done to the West.

Anyway, Chomsky breaks it down beautifully in a little over 5 minutes:

 

Let's see here.. Various law enforcement agencies that either have, or until recently had, "Muslim surveillance" groups, rampant racism towards Muslims, various laws unnecessarily banning "Sharia Law", the whole kerfuffle about the "Ground Zero Mosque", etc, etc. Oh.. And the whole thing about bombing the hell out of Muslims in the Middle East.

 

But you do not see many American black males joining the Lord's resistance army in Congo.

I guess gangs serve the same purpose.

White Americans have fought with Irish terrorist groups among others.

 

Again, getting from the US to the middle east is significantly harder than getting there from Europe.

 

There's a muslim race?

One more flight.

 

That same as there being a "Jewish" race. Fine, whatever you want to call it, rampant anti-Islam sentiment/Islam fear mongering, etc, etc.

Which cost quite a bit of money, not to mention the need to get visas, etc, etc. Europeans just need to get on a train to Turkey, then walk/drive across a border.

 

There are genetic studies showing affinity among all Jews. Not so much for Muslims.

People are entitled to their own opinions. The oppression is not there. There are millions of Muslims doing just fine in the USA.

The Orient Express? You think anyone in Turkey is checking?

 

I think that is a bit more than 1 train ride.

 

That's not true at all.

There have been numerous examples of terrorism, which has been called just that, not against western countries - take recent events in China, Thailand, India, Myanmar, for example.

 

That part of the world does not affect Dominican. So anything that happens there does not exist in his mind.

 

It exists, but there's nothing I can do about it.

It's easy to pontificate about the crimes of others and be outraged and point fingers. It's a lot harder to look at the crimes that your government (and by extension, you, since the US is a free society) does and to criticize it.

 

What mind?

 

1) Until more recently when reform Jewish groups began accepting converts to Judaism as Jews, previously only those with a Jewish mother could be counted as real Jews. That was actually a Persian invention, or contribution to Judaism if you will, via emissaries of the Persian empire such as Ezra, sent to help quell unrest in the area in favor of recently freed Jewish captives from Babylonia who had returned to Jerusalem and who had closer affinity to the Persians. At the time, there were other so-called Jews of uncertain lineage who had mixed and mingled with different ethnic groups who inhabited the area. The Jews who had been held in captivity by the Babylonians and freed by the Persians, however, had clear Jewish lineage. They also carried new messages that were friendly to Persian rule, including teaching that Cyrus was the "Lord Anointed" and that the "laws of the Persians and the Medes, disobey them not". It was Persian policy to make sure that in the dispute between different Jewish groups over who had true claim to the Jewish temples, and to the teachings of Judaism, that those allied to the Persians would prevail. The way to accomplish both objectives, and settle the competing claims was to decide that a real Jew was only someone who had a Jewish mother. Afterwards, for centuries, being a Jew was not just a matter of faith but also of lineage.

2) There is no Moslem race. That is true. You become a Moslem simply by embracing the faith and its teachings, regardless of what race or ethnic group you belong to. Similar to becoming a Christian.

3) All that said, anti-Moslem sentiment is wide spread in America and intentionally fueled by different groups, including by appealing to racism and anti-Middle Eastern prejudices. What is interesting is the role played by supporters of Israel in fueling these sentiments. Being intimately familiar with the how Jews themselves were once the object of much prejudice in Europe for centuries, not just for their different faith, but also because they had a more "Eastern appearance" and had alien beliefs and came from an alien culture, these pro Israeli groups have become quite adept at packaging some of the same kind of messages to breed anti-Moslem hatred and hysteria. Of course, occupy a people's land, subject them to wars and countless other atrocities, and you will end up with enough examples of resistance and occasionally quite aberrant and desperate acts, to further fuel fear, hatred and prejudice.

 

Works both ways:
Anti-American sentiment is wide-spread in Muslim places and intentionally fueled by different groups, including by appealing to religious and anti-western prejudices. What is interesting is the role played by opponents of Israel in fueling these sentiments. ... anti-Israeli groups have become quite adept at packaging some of the same kind of messages to breed anti-American hatred and hysteria. Of course, attacking a people's land, subjecting them to terrorism and countless other atrocities, and you will end up with enough examples of retaliation ... to further fuel fear, hatred and prejudice.