Paul Prescod wrote:
>
> cgrimes at rawbw.com wrote:
>
>
> My point is that the causes of the terrorist act are many and complex.
> Poverty has a small part to play. Globalization may have a small part.
> Underlying religious and cultural differences have a part to play.
> Israel has a part. The Iraqi war has a part, etc.
For the most part I agree with your arguments. Seldom if ever is poverty (or even severe repression) the direct cause of terrorism. In fact, I'm not even sure that there _is_ any particular general cause of "Terorism" or that there is even any such thing as "Terrorism" -- it is merely a label which yokes violently together what a very miscellangeous collection of political or semi-political acts of violeence, and very possibly each particular "terrorist" group or action has to be accounted for differently.
But aside from whatever motivates a given terrorist group, they usually, I suspect, for their own morale need to feel that there is some sort of popular basis for their actions. Thus while quite possibly Bin Laden (as well as many but not all of his followers) does not give a shit about the Palestinians -- it is also possible that without the repression of the Palestinians as a context he would not have been able to mount a complex or protracted terrorist campaign.
>
> Leftist commentators discredit themselves in my eyes when they point to
> a single, simple answer like globalization and poverty and try to blame
> the whole thing on that.
Name names. I object sharply to this sort of shit. Within _any_ grouping, no matter how defined, there will always be assholes. There will never be a time when there is not a fairly large scattering of leftists and leftist groups who are "discrediting themselves," and complaining about that is as stupid as complaining about the weather. Live with it. It only makes sense to criticize those elements of the left with whom you feel most in common -- who you address as comrades. Or those with whom you are competing for a particular political space. For example, if you are in a coalition of some sort, and some others in that coalition are advancing what you think to be a wrong position: then you fight to have the coalition adopt your program or tactics instead of theirs.
But this sort of free floating attack on "some leftists" or "the left" is simply offensive and pointless.
Carrol