Terrorism stems from a sense of humiliation and a fear that a culture is going to be subsumed in some larger culture. Poverty has little to do with it. Paul Prescod
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Poverty lays the foundation as a base of socio-economic marginalization, where direct violence in the form crime, insurrections and rebellions are the expression. But terrorism is more of a middle class or intellectual class reaction to related marginalizations of the political, social, cultural varieties.
While gun control is obviously irrelevant, I don't think that the lack of democratic or at least representative forms of government in the middle east, along with responsive public institutions, some serious economic reform to ameliorate grinding poverty, and a well educated and (yes) enlightened, tolerant and socially responsible middle class to administer the countries are irrelevant. In fact I think the lack of these directly contribute. In addition, the rise of religious groups are in a sense the attempt of impoverished and marginalized communities to create some form social institutions were there are none.
The role the US empire plays in this game is entirely exploitive and oppressive and it is a natural target, since it both indirectly creates and directly supports these conditions in the name of `peace' and the statis quo.
Chuck Grimes
(at work, so this is brief)