Just a thought on terrorism

Disclaimer: Simply a thought on terrorism, nothing too serious, definitely not something academic. Just a thought.

Terrorism is everywhere, and it has been for a long time. It has taken its place in many different societies, cultures, and religions. What is it, really? How is it different from war? Is it because in war there are uniforms and weapons produced by corporate interests? F-16s and bombs are legitimate, and rocks and suicide bombers are not? What if Hamas was able to purchase some MiGs and bombed Tel Aviv under the name “Palestinian Army?” What if an Israeli boy blew himself up in a crowded market in Ramallah? Would we change our definitions of terrorism? Is it not like when we call a war a “revolution” if the rebels win and a “civil war” if they lose? So, if we don’t like the rebels, we call them terrorists?

Modern terrorism is the byproduct of revolutions. After the French Revolution, whose ideas form the basis of American democracy, France experienced the “Reign of Terror,’ in which the rebels executed all of the nobility it could find, plus some others. This was all in the name of “Liberté, égalité, et fraternité.” The Reign of Terror was so awful that Napoleon was able to rise to power from its chaos. Dictatorship overcame France as Napoleon tried to take over the world. Some liberty, equality, and fraternity.

The next great revolution was the Bolshevik endeavor, more than a century after the French. That revolution was enshrouded in terrorism, both before and after it. The turn of the century was marked by rebellion against morality itself, as Russian Nihilism spread across Europe and to the United States. It was not communism that made murder cool; it was simply the social constraints place on individuals by the ruling class who used morality to restrict the thoughts and actions of its subjects. The youth finally became sick of this moral imposition and began killing for pleasure. The Russian tsar, the King of Italy, the Empress of Spain, and William McKinley, US President, were all murdered by nihilists, and attempts were made to assassinate the German and Austrian emperors. There were assassinations of diplomats and government officials all over the world until finally one fateful June day in 1914, Archduke Ferdinand was assassinated in Serbia, which began the horrific slaughter of men that we call World War One, “The Great War,” “The War to End All Wars,” except it was neither great nor did it end all wars; it only set the stage for the bloodiest war in the history of humanity (or lack thereof), the war against fascism, the war against genocide, the war that killed millions of people. By then we had Communism and Stalin, the byproduct of the Bolshevik Revolution.

The last of the three great modern revolutions was the Islamic Revolution, currently underway. You see, revolutions don’t occur in one year- it takes many years. The French revolution had to suffer through Napoleon and his heirs before it was successful. The Bolsheviks, though never successful in implementing a truly communist state, succeeded in ridding Russia of its tsars, the main reason the revolution happened in the first place, but they had to suffer through decades of dictatorship. The Islamic revolution was also based on ideas of equality. The Pavlah Shah was a pompous asshole supported by the US who treated his people like shit. The people got sick of him and overthrew him in the name of equality. They have yet to get it, but the Revolution is far from over.

Three revolutions, all in the name of Equality. Men have treated each other like animals since the first dawn, and enlightened men have strived toward equality of all men for millennia. Jesus of Nazareth preached about equality, too. He was killed for it. Here we have a repetitive theme in history. Men slaughter each other because some have more than others and everyone wants what the other has. You can call it war, you can call it terrorism- it’s all horrific violence and stupid.