Way too many people now accept the concepts of Terrorists and Terrorism without question, so maybe it’s time to think about how and why certain words are imposed on our minds. I think it’s called “managing perceptions”.
For example – did anyone in America think of our country as “The Homeland” before government propagandists coerced the mainstream media into using the term endlessly, and re-named every possible government agency and function as Homeland this and that? The Nazi propagandists would be proud that their legacy lives on.
And then there’s all those wars and military operations with catchy names designed to hide their true nature. “Operation Enduring Freedom” and pathetic shit like that.
So, to the subject of this post. Can anyone enlighten me on exactly when a particular group is to be called “militants”, “terrorists”, or “freedom-fighters”? I would really like to know who I should be hating on. Hate needs a target, doesn’t it?
Most people, whether informed or not, reasonably accept the idea that people who deliberately target, maim and kill vulnerable men, women and children, and who intentionally inflict fear, pain, suffering and death, are properly called “Terrorists”, and their actions are properly termed “Terrorism”.
We all hate and fear Terrorists, don’t we, and of course we all support the idea that “all options are on the table” to deal with them, right? We all want to do the right thing. Naturally. What “true patriot” wouldn’t feel that way?
But whoa there little patriot podners – let’s back up for a moment. I have a few questions here.
Don’t governments routinely inflict fear, pain, suffering and death upon vulnerable people in their own and other countries? Sure, they use organizations called “the military” and “law enforcement” to legitimatize their actions, but so what? We should, but don’t generally ask – what is the motive? What is the proper term for the people who commit these acts under cloak of being a “government”?
Don’t corporations routinely inflict fear, pain, suffering and death upon vulnerable people in their own and other countries? Sure, they use a metaphor called “business” to legitimatize their actions, but so what? We should, but don’t generally ask – what is the motive? What is the proper term for the people who commit these acts under cloak of “business”?
Don’t powerful and wealthy people routinely inflict fear, pain, suffering and death upon vulnerable people in their own society and worldwide? Sure, they use legal fictions like “politics” to disguise and hide their actions, but so what? We should, but don’t generally ask – what is the motive? What is the proper term for the people who commit these acts under cloak of being “the ruling classes”?
Don’t financial institutions routinely inflict fear, pain, suffering and death upon vulnerable people in their own countries and worldwide? Sure, they use a metaphor called “the economy” to legitimatize their actions, but so what? We should, but don’t generally ask – what is the motive? What is the proper term for the people who commit these acts under cloak of “managing the economy”?
Don’t religious institutions routinely inflict fear, pain, suffering and death upon vulnerable people in their own countries and worldwide? Sure, they use a metaphor called “God” to legitimatize their actions, but so what? We should, but don’t generally ask – what is the motive? What is the proper term for the people who commit these acts under cloak of “the will of God”?
All of these institutions, groups, institutions and organizations deliberately inflict fear, pain, suffering and death in service of their own agenda. Every one of them. They justify what they do in the name of something that they have carefully arranged to be perceived as socially acceptable – even beneficial. After all, government, business, money, and God are all good, right?
Somebody, I forget just who, said “By their deeds ye shall know them.” Seems to me that if it acts like a Terrorist, creating fear, pain, suffering and death, then it’s a Terrorist.
So, if the actual deeds of all these self-proclaimed good guys are terrorism, even if they try to hide their true nature under another name, then aren’t they revealed as Terrorists simply by their deeds?
All of these closet terrorist organizations that want to be seen as legitimate work tirelessly to distract the public mind by creating a special category composed of “Islamic radicals”, whose images and actions can easily be manipulated using the “Big Lie” technique.
The Big Lie has to be simple, because it is the simple-minded who are the targets. Government, business, wealth, military, church, and God – good. Terrorists – bad. Radical Islam – really, really bad. (Wrong God)
But – what if enough people stopped buying into the underlying agenda of the institutional use of words “Terrorist” and “Homeland” and started calling these people designated as radical Islamic terrorists – whose acts are truly despicable – something like “Revolutionaries”?
That word has a whole different set of connotations, and none of these meanings can be co-opted by governments, corporations, the wealthy, banks, or churches – because all of them try hard to portray themselves as “good guy” revolutionaries. Clearly there’s no such thing as a good-guy “Radical Islamic Terrorist”.
Revolutionaries, on the other hand, can be good. Revolutionary deodorants. Revolutionary erectile dysfunction drugs. Revolutionary Coca Cola.
No question about it – revolutionaries can be bad, especially political and economic revolutionaries. These revolutionaries engage in all the evil that those who they are fighting also engage in, and even though they may claim superior motives and morality, history has shown that most political/economic revolutionaries are simply thugs, like those they fight against. But even that kind of Revolutionary is different from a Terrorist, and so from time to time it suits even the ruling classes to portray themselves as revolutionaries, but never as terrorists.
Words matter, and the words “Terrorism” and “Terrorists” are an outstanding example of “The Big Lie” technique at work. We here in America – not the “Homeland”, but America – should be smart enough to not fall for the Big Lie technique – again. But, evidently, we are collectively not that smart.
That too is deliberate strategy.
Dumb them down, drug them up, keep them poor, make them hate each other, scare the shit out of them, control what they think, grab all the money and power and rule forever.
Works for the closet terrorists. Always has. Always will.
panaceachronicles 