06-15-2008, 07:32 AM
I'm not so sure. Popular uprising, or the specter of it, is an integral tenet of democracy. Actually, it's generally the birth of democracy. Yes, we've seen some awful, awful things as of late, and those things definitely are terrorist acts. Terror seems to be a result of nihilism in it's lowest form - the depths of a downward spiral, where freedom-fighters as well as counter-terrorists become dependent on the increasingly repellent conduct of the other side. This is the unintentional path towards nihilism, towards terrorism, but it is what it is.
It's tragic, yes, but I don't say that to excuse it, merely to distinguish it from a second path that is altogether more cynical. In the tragedy of freedom-fighters, violence, once employed, becomes an end unto itself, to the horror of those who are trapped by the other side.
The terrorism that should be dealt with, the second path, and defined accordingly, is the one in which violence does not begin as a means to a noble end. One where, from the beginning, it is used in the name of a cynical or self-serving one.
It's tragic, yes, but I don't say that to excuse it, merely to distinguish it from a second path that is altogether more cynical. In the tragedy of freedom-fighters, violence, once employed, becomes an end unto itself, to the horror of those who are trapped by the other side.
The terrorism that should be dealt with, the second path, and defined accordingly, is the one in which violence does not begin as a means to a noble end. One where, from the beginning, it is used in the name of a cynical or self-serving one.