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The terrorist is the class enemy -- классовый враг -- of the Western world. I sometimes wonder how it would be if politicians would try to use this rhetorical

by weland 13y ago

The terrorist is the class enemy -- классовый враг -- of the Western world. I sometimes wonder how it would be if politicians would try to use this rhetorical device in an ex-Communist country (I used to live in one, so I should know). They'd probably be laughed at the first couple of times, and then quickly labeled as crackpots. The catch is, most of them haven't actually experienced terrorism; to a population who hasn't seen a terrorist bombing for generations, "terrorist" is as empty a term as "enemy of the people". It's things like this that convince me history should be a compulsory, well-treated subject, everywhere. History doesn't repeat itself, but it rhymes so well!

malandrew 13y ago
I'm guessing that the best way to solve this is to "take back the word" and use it in ways that demonstrate its banality and uselessness in debates. Using fear to sway political discourse is an excellent definition of terrorism because it effectively labels both those causing the physical damage and those selling the antidote as terrorists. Getting a nation to spend billions to trillions of dollars on over-the-top security solutions and leading a country to war based on lies is as much of a terrorist act as 9-11. Anti-terrorism would be getting every to calm down and avoiding overreactions and unhealthy obsessions, which is about as far from what has happened in the US and UK in the last ~12 years. I really want to see all journalists and bloggers calling any and people advocating solutions based on fear called terrorists. Osama Bin Laden was a terrorist, Dick Cheney is a terrorist. Al Zawahiri is a terrorist. Barack Obama is a terrorist. Mussolini was a terrorist. George W. Bush is a terrorist. Timothy McVeigh was a terrorist. David Cameron is a terrorist. Ashcroft is a terrorist. Hitler was a terrorist. Mao was a terrorist. Stalin was a terrorist. etc. If you're selling fear, you're terrorist. Not terrorists? Dalai Lama. Bradley Manning. Ghandi. Ladar Levison. Martin Luther King, Jr. Edward Snowden. Nelson Mandela. Julian Assange. etc.

by weland 13y ago

malandrew 13y ago

I'm guessing that the best way to solve this is to "take back the word" and use it in ways that demonstrate its banality and uselessness in debates. Using fear to sway political discourse is an excellent definition of terrorism because it effectively labels both those causing the physical damage and those selling the antidote as terrorists. Getting a nation to spend billions to trillions of dollars on over-the-top security solutions and leading a country to war based on lies is as much of a terrorist act as 9-11. Anti-terrorism would be getting every to calm down and avoiding overreactions and unhealthy obsessions, which is about as far from what has happened in the US and UK in the last ~12 years. I really want to see all journalists and bloggers calling any and people advocating solutions based on fear called terrorists. Osama Bin Laden was a terrorist, Dick Cheney is a terrorist. Al Zawahiri is a terrorist. Barack Obama is a terrorist. Mussolini was a terrorist. George W. Bush is a terrorist. Timothy McVeigh was a terrorist. David Cameron is a terrorist. Ashcroft is a terrorist. Hitler was a terrorist. Mao was a terrorist. Stalin was a terrorist. etc. If you're selling fear, you're terrorist. Not terrorists? Dalai Lama. Bradley Manning. Ghandi. Ladar Levison. Martin Luther King, Jr. Edward Snowden. Nelson Mandela. Julian Assange. etc.