Terrorism, cause or effect?

With the attack on the airport and subway system of Brussels, Europe has once again, in a short span of time, become the target of terrorism. By all means, this is a egregious act and not acceptable in any way or form. However, I find that there is a surprising lack of awareness in the general public, and in the media coverage, regarding the REASON for these attacks.

It seems to be a weakness in the human intellect. When we are faced with trauma and difficulties, our tendency is to look at the symptom. When we get sick, we look at and attempt to suppress the immediate effect. When there is a fight or conflict, we look at the drama – and this single dimension – the consequence that is here right now – becomes the entirety of our focus. However, as with all aspects of life, there is always, ALWAYS, an underlying cause. When it comes to human beings, that cause can never be simplified to the idea that some people are ‘just evil’ – or that they ‘just belong to the wrong religion’ – or that ‘they are immigrants’. Human beings are without a doubt more complex creatures than this – and hence – to understand terrorism – we must understand the human mind.

Terrorism, as explained by Chris Hedges, is born on the outskirts of the system. It is born in places where our western media seldom go, and even more rarely, report from. The reality of terrorism is that it is a social construct, in-fact, it is a part of our current system – it is a inescapable consequence of the inequality on which all of our collective designs are built. Terrorism is a SYMPTOM – not a cause – and seen in the eyes of forgiveness and clarity – it is an obvious call for help from the undeveloped and forgotten parts of this world.

In the western world, we tend to become arrogant and look at terrorism with an air of elitism. We condemn the attacks, yet we make no effort to understand them. We look down on the extremists and their religious doctrines, yet we make no effort to prevent such people from ever becoming extremists to begin with. We believe ourselves to be better than, though fact is that we, the western civilization, is as corrupted, as violent, as brutal and indifferent as the suicide bombers of ISIS. However, we are able to hide our real nature behind a facade of prestige, intellect, money and skillful rhetoric’s – though in being honest with ourselves – we cannot deny – we are just the same.

We call our terror attacks humanitarian interventions or peace keeping missions. We say that we fight for peace and democracy when we bomb cities of foreign countries. We lie that our intentions are benevolent, while fact is that there are always ulterior motives; geopolitics, profit, desire and greed. It is impossible to create peace or stability in a country through armed intervention, and it is easy to see that the warmongers are also those that benefit from building and selling the war machines. There has never, and will never be such a thing as a war fought for good reasons. War is in its very nature despicable – a crime against all of humanity.

Hence, when we look at terrorism, we must make the effort to understand it – and the only way to understand terrorism is through letting go of our elitist mindset and instead asking ourselves; what is it that can drive someone to commit suicide with a bomb, with the intention of killing and harming as many people as possible? What must someone go through, experience, think, see, to be able to make that decision? It is such an extreme act of violence, that the precursory events that creates a suicide bomber, must in themselves be violent, destructive and harmful. How are we collectively responsible for creating suicide bombers? Would anyone take their own life if they had everything to life for?

What we must understand is that, in this world, the majority of people are suffering. The majority of people are compromised, diminished, and placed into a state of lack where they do not have access to the very basic necessities of life. They are unable to create a life for themselves, and hence have NOTHING to lose – and THAT is the conditions that proceeds a terrorist attack – conditions of deprivation and pauperism – this creates people with no hope, no fear, and no morals. We in the western world are responsible for creating such situations of scarcity – as we in various ways impact the world negatively with our continuous drive for profit and expansion.

Terrorism will not go away until we decide to take responsibility for this world, and understand, that violence begets violence, and that the only way to come to a REAL solution, is through giving all a life of dignity.

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The Shootings In Paris, An Act of War?

Friday the 13^th 2015, the day when an apparent terrorist attack struck Paris, and more than a hundred people got killed. The French president responded with saying that the attack is an act of war. However, I would say that this is not a correct assessment of the situation, and more importantly, it is not a effective way of approaching what has happened.

If we roll back the time for a moment, 11^th September 2001, two planes flew into the World Trade Center, killing thousands. The American government blamed the Taliban’s and decided to invade Afghanistan, and later Iraq, in the so-called war against terrorism. Obviously, it was never about a war against terrorism, as rather it was a way for the corpocracy of America to feed its enormous military industrial complex. Though, for a moment, let us assume that the war on terrorism was actually a real attempt to make the world a safer place. It is time to ask, did this war actually make the world a safer place?

The simple answer is no, and it takes no rocket scientist to understand that wars, whatever reason that is used to justify them, creates even more consequences. As such – we require a new way of dealing with things, a new way of approaching conflicts, a new way of handling consequences, were we do not hit back but instead look at how the consequence came about, and more importantly how we were a part of creating that particular consequence.

When it comes to terrorist attacks, it is not difficult to understand why some individuals in this world develop an urge to fight back against the establishment with brute force. The reasons are poverty, war, lack of education, and the nonexistence of opportunities. For some, born in the wrong country, at the wrong time, there is absolutely no hope, and for those, terrorism is a way of saying: ‘Look at what you have done to me! Look at what you have done to my life!’ – and that is what we in the western world must understand – that terrorist attacks is an indication that we have to steer things in another direction. Terrorist attacks is as much a cry for help, as they are a sign we humans have not yet been able to unite as ONE group.

Though, I will admit, it is very easy for me to say that ‘we have to change’ – but how to practically do that? What can we possibly do on a individual basis to have any impact on a global level? Truth to be told, there is no single person that can actually change the world, but we can change the world together, through each of us making the decision to stand up in our own lives.

For example, one solution that we can implement is to, when conflicts emerge in our own personal worlds, someone lashing out on us (a micro terrorist attack), that we then look at how we were a part of creating that conflict, and also why that conflict came about, and what we are able to do to in the future, to prevent it and find sustainable solutions – thus living the example of PEACE, CONSIDERATION, RESPONSIBILITY and UNDERSTANDING.

When we live what is best, when we stand as an example of a better, upgraded human being, a human capable of forgiveness, that will have a impact. Maybe it will not come through on a global level, though we will be able to see it in our personal relationships, in our communication with colleagues and acquaintances. And what does this world consist of but personal relationships, family relationships being the very core bonding that holds society together. When these relationships change, it is clear that it will have an effect on other, larger, collective relationship groups as well.

So, consequences are not bad, they are opportunities for learning and self-growth. Each consequence is a sign, a signal, that there is something about ourselves that we can change. This is so equally on a personal as well as global level. Thus, instead of saying that these terrorist attacks are an act of war – let us instead recognize them for what they really are – a cry for help and a indication that we can do better to ensure that each human being on this earth lives a life of dignity.

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