Political
I'll go "out on a limb" here, and post something different. It's a controvertial issue, and I hope I don't get misunderstood.
There's been quite a lot of talk about "terrorism", lately (with the sad aniversary of the Madrid incident as well...). As I understand it, terrorism is a label given to any violent attack resulting in the loss of human life (or property), that stems from a political/religious belief or "situation", and that targets people that are not (actively) involved in a military activity (war, soldiers etc). In other words, people that are "minding their own businesses".
My understanding is that many (most?) of such attacks are the results of fanaticism, often religiously driven, and are not "fair".
However, there may be some cases, in which there are groups of people who's rights are oppressed to an extreme extent. People who have no freedom to express their opinions, who are deprived of everything, who are left to die in misery, or tortured to their deaths. These people may stand no chance of escaping their fate. And what's worse, their tragedy may be silenced, tolerated, condoned, or even supported by the leaders of other countries, who, for one reason or other, are in good terms with the authorities that oppress them.
We know of such stories (I won't go into bringing any examples, because I could not support a detailed political discussion on any of them, and that's not the point of this post). The point of this post is the following: When a person, or a group of people, have been reduced to nothing, their rights, liberties, dreams, hopes, families, lifes smashed, and they see that the rest of the world essentially turns the head away from them, either because it is not in their interest to care, or because they have not gone into the trouble of building a character that will make them understand or care, they may feel that the only solution for them is to attract attention, to send out a strong message of dispair, a cry for help. And a "terrorist" (often suicidal) attack may be what they resort to.
In these cases, innocent people may suffer the consequences. But simply condemning such attacks, or simply labeling them "acts of barbarism", is not fair. Actually, it is to some extent hypocritical.
In other words, my point is that when there is such oppression and unfairness in the world, and it is pretty much accepted and tolerated worldwide, then, as a race, us humans have not yet earned the "right" to feel (and be!) safe when we are just "minding our business". We might become the random target of one's desperate attempt to escape hell, just as we may become the random target of a lightning, or an earthquake. And that's something we should learn to live with, perhaps learn from, and even better do something about (but I mean do something productive, something like contributing in making the world more fair and just, not just "go after the bad terrorists" to protect our sense of daily security and saneness)!
I don't know if this came through as I meant it. It's something along the lines of "if you are not part of the solution, then you are part of the problem" idea. And of course it does not mean that I do not feel all the sympathy I can for the victims of such attacks, and I hope that my friends and family or I will never be one.
There's been quite a lot of talk about "terrorism", lately (with the sad aniversary of the Madrid incident as well...). As I understand it, terrorism is a label given to any violent attack resulting in the loss of human life (or property), that stems from a political/religious belief or "situation", and that targets people that are not (actively) involved in a military activity (war, soldiers etc). In other words, people that are "minding their own businesses".
My understanding is that many (most?) of such attacks are the results of fanaticism, often religiously driven, and are not "fair".
However, there may be some cases, in which there are groups of people who's rights are oppressed to an extreme extent. People who have no freedom to express their opinions, who are deprived of everything, who are left to die in misery, or tortured to their deaths. These people may stand no chance of escaping their fate. And what's worse, their tragedy may be silenced, tolerated, condoned, or even supported by the leaders of other countries, who, for one reason or other, are in good terms with the authorities that oppress them.
We know of such stories (I won't go into bringing any examples, because I could not support a detailed political discussion on any of them, and that's not the point of this post). The point of this post is the following: When a person, or a group of people, have been reduced to nothing, their rights, liberties, dreams, hopes, families, lifes smashed, and they see that the rest of the world essentially turns the head away from them, either because it is not in their interest to care, or because they have not gone into the trouble of building a character that will make them understand or care, they may feel that the only solution for them is to attract attention, to send out a strong message of dispair, a cry for help. And a "terrorist" (often suicidal) attack may be what they resort to.
In these cases, innocent people may suffer the consequences. But simply condemning such attacks, or simply labeling them "acts of barbarism", is not fair. Actually, it is to some extent hypocritical.
In other words, my point is that when there is such oppression and unfairness in the world, and it is pretty much accepted and tolerated worldwide, then, as a race, us humans have not yet earned the "right" to feel (and be!) safe when we are just "minding our business". We might become the random target of one's desperate attempt to escape hell, just as we may become the random target of a lightning, or an earthquake. And that's something we should learn to live with, perhaps learn from, and even better do something about (but I mean do something productive, something like contributing in making the world more fair and just, not just "go after the bad terrorists" to protect our sense of daily security and saneness)!
I don't know if this came through as I meant it. It's something along the lines of "if you are not part of the solution, then you are part of the problem" idea. And of course it does not mean that I do not feel all the sympathy I can for the victims of such attacks, and I hope that my friends and family or I will never be one.
posted by Anonymous at
9:53 AM
10 Comments:
Why so cautious? Your point is valid, but from the doctor's perspective, it's easier and more efficient to treat the symptom than to determine and rectify the underlying disorder. (metaphor totally mixed)
From a BAD doctor's perspective, or from the perspective of a doctor that is about to retire to the Bahamas and never see any of his patients again, yes, you are right!
Or even better, from the perspective of a doctor that plans to becoming reach by treating the same symptoms over and over again, leaving the disorder untreated on purpose :-)
How nice of you to run with my questionable metaphor! It almost works, doesn't it? Back to the question of the roots of terrorism... I know you want to avoid specific examples, but I hope you'll agree that Bin Laden is not in the same category of the oppressed and downtrodden as Palestinian suicide bombers (and teenage rock-throwers) in the Gaza Strip. A leftover apokries mask of BL is still hanging in a kiosk in my neighborhood (maybe I should take it as a positive sign that it remained unbought) and his continued lionization by people who laugh when Americans suffer really makes me sick.
On a totally personal note, you like me better in English than in Greek, don't you?
Yes, I agree with you on your example. BL is a different story, nothing to do with what I was refering to in my post. Some examples from Latin America are closer to what I was thinking of.
Just noticed a typo in my previous post (reach->rich).
Where did I read you in Greek, I forget?
Oh yes, your comment about my post about English, of course.
I don't know, I like you in both (although still no sign of that ice-cream :-)
Btw, a bit of detective work. I understand that you live in Crete, and you are not 100% greek, right?
Read some reviews on-line, it seems very interesting, thanks. I've seen a couple of other interviews of his before, or parts of them anyway.
Steph, everything you need to know can be found on the blog (or in close proximity)... although I admit I haven't expressed any particular view on Chomsky. I'll keep it in mind for later.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Oops, I knew sth had been fishy with blogger comments lately, but I figured lightning couldn't strike twice, not the same person AND on the same blog. Ug.
Yes i agree that some people are pushed to the limit, and if you dont stand in their shoes, then its hard to understand why they may feel forced to kill innocent people, but none the less , innocent people are still innocent.
Hence the meaning of the word.
They should be fighting for their freedom against their true oppressors.
There is no place in the world for terrorisim.
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