Reply #33: Some of the root causes of terrorism

[meow2u3]

1. Extreme poverty coupled with no sense of hope in rising above it, especially among the young, making these people feel like losers. Young people trapped in destitution with little or no chance for making an honest living are more likely to join some sort of criminal organization, be it street gangs, rackets, or terrorist organization.

2. Oppression. People who are constantly beaten down and live in fear get fed up, ending up angry at their oppressors, the system, and even themselves. Their anger boils over into rage and causes them to lash out at friend and foe alike. They can no longer think straight. Because they can't attack their oppressors head-on, they resort to guerilla or terrorist tactics to lash out, killing indiscriminately.

3. A sense of hopelessness, desperation, and/or some sort of mass major depression. People who feel they have nothing to lose but the lives they no longer value are more willing to commit atrocious acts of terrorism than those who do retain even the slightest sense of hope for improving their lot in life. Suicide bombers often fit this description.

4. Illiteracy and ignorance. Ignorant and/or illiterate people are far more impressionable than their more sophisticated/educated counterparts and thus make easy recruits for terrorist organizations. This holds true especially for low-level "grunts."

5. Authoritarian family/community/political structures. Kids raised in authoritarian households, communities, or political systems are more likely to grow up blindly obeying anyone who claims to be an authority, right or wrong, often to the point of committing the most atrocious acts of crimes against humanity on command. They're more like trained seals than thinking human beings because they disowned their God-given free will. Religious fundametalist leaders salivate at the idea of easily recruiting these kinds of people.


This is not an exhaustive list.

We have to understand the enemy, even think like the enemy, to defeat the enemy. This is exactly what cops do to nab criminals. But conservatives don't understand this, and thus judge the enemy by their own mentality (perhaps because they think the same way?). Understanding the enemy does not equal making excuses for, and condoning the behavior of, the enemy. It means putting yourself in their shoes in order to make your job of defeating terrorism easier.