dagblog - Comments for "Getting Radical"

There is a role for the

Elusive Trope — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 01:36:33 +0000

There is a role for the anti–hero in society, providing a corporeal presence that counters the status quo. But I suppose one could say not all counters are the same, as in balancing means and ends.

Juan Cole on the other hand,

artappraiser — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 19:38:26 +0000

In reply to I was thinking Sharks and

Juan Cole on the other hand, immediately saw reminders of Turgenev's Fathers and Sons.

I watched the first half of

artappraiser — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 19:12:30 +0000

In reply to Well, I have just come across

I watched the first half of this, Uncle Ruslan talking about "getting radical":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZ3XV0fOhRs

how he saw how "it' happened in Chechnya. How he knows "it" now when he sees it. I think Uncle Reslan has a better bead on how "it" happens than Mr. Atran. Gave me chills when he knew "it" had happened with Tamerlan "when he called me that name" but he couldn't remember the word right away. And then finally remembers the name Tamerlan called him. How it's not about the word, it's about trying to force a moral code on others. Then he looks at these types understanding of another word in Islam with ridicule. Uncle Reslan seems to understand very instinctively what the difference here is between this and the Sharks and the Jets....and that one can try the strong father figure thing but it may not work, sometimes it's not enough, sometimes you have to give up on trying to fix "it," the "brainwashing."

I don't know about the Pentagon, but Uncle Ruslan's analysis works better for me on places like Syria and Afghanistan.

I think as a country, we have

erica20 — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 18:24:08 +0000

In reply to I am too lazy and sick to

I think as a country, we have provided one too many hat racks for rage.

Trope, I think we are in

erica20 — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 18:23:11 +0000

In reply to Getting Radical

Trope, I think we are in agreement here. The anti-hero is a character who has gotten out of hand in our political and legal vision. That is what the Boston case should be about, I think.

I was thinking Sharks and

erica20 — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 18:15:37 +0000

In reply to Some "radicals" without a

I was thinking Sharks and Jets about this situation, too. In fact, that's what made me think of the Romeo and Juliet analogy.

I am too lazy and sick to

Richard Day — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 18:11:22 +0000

In reply to Getting Radical

I am too lazy and sick to research right now so I went to wiki in order to refresh my memory.

We have 30,000 gangs in this country that include some 800,000 gang members (as of 2007) and supposedly the cops maintain that almost 90% of all 'crimes' are committed by these gangs.

How does one define the term gang or even gang member?

Well, I have seen this phenomena as armies in continual warfare with one another and with the public in general.

These armies are armed to the hilt.

They sell arms to criminals and drugs to stupid kids.

Some ten thousand deaths result from this continual warfare every year in this country including first degree murders, friendly fire and the deaths of innocents.

Young men can be very dangerous. They have some gene that regulates all of this ardor.

We already have 2.5 million people in our prisons and jails already.

Should we just 'round up' another 800,000 young men?

I think what shocks me the most about these White Russians is that they wreak havoc with no real goal in mind. They did not blow up a finish line for money or drugs.

There is no purpose to their actions. Just like the Aurora and the Sandy Hook hoodlums.

And how political were the actions taken at Aurora and Sandy Hook?

Somehow we become more satisfied in our search for reasons when some radical prick in the Middle East takes the credit for the mayhem.

Rage has got to be the primary motivator for all of these people.

That is all I got!

Great links. Thanks.

EmmaZahn — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 16:42:16 +0000

In reply to Well, I have just come across

Great links. Thanks.

"Back in the day," I found

Carol Gee — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 14:15:49 +0000

In reply to Well, I have just come across

"Back in the day," I found the expertise of a couple of academics to be particularly helpful to my understanding: Mary Habeck's 2007 book, Knowing the Enemy, and Marc Sageman's 2008 book, Leaderless Jihad.

First, thanks for the

Elusive Trope — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 06:22:46 +0000

In reply to Trope, your writing on this

First, thanks for the compliment. Second, your point about radicals is right on the head of the proverbial nail. Virginia Woolf was a radical. So was the one who thought we should all be afraid of her. And here we are, waiting. Lets go. Yes. Lets go.