tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7082173774815417367.post4437942009010756519..comments2023-07-07T16:23:52.254+01:00Comments on Wild and whirling words: Fort Hood and historyWild and whirling wordshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09008065038496728607noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7082173774815417367.post-57600496282441678962014-04-10T17:16:37.321+01:002014-04-10T17:16:37.321+01:00Yes - though the problem with the fundamentalist i...Yes - though the problem with the fundamentalist is that he or she is all too well equipped with a worldview and cultural edifice that makes sense (or claims to) of their trauma. <br /><br />The American soldier or bereaved relative or whatever still doesn't have a satisfying answer to the question 'why am I traumatized?' because the truest answer (America is basically a modern empire) is deeply repressed for cultural and historical reasons specific to America. (I'm not, btw, saying that having an empire *morally* justifies trauma - but it explains it).<br /><br />The Islamic fundamentalist has all sorts of answers to the question 'why am I traumatized?', supplied by the Koran, radicalized imams, and militants. But he is overly certain that this answer is right and always right for everyone, and holds that the answer explains more than the question ever asked.<br /><br />Hence victims of political violence in Saudi Arabia thinking they need to kill thousands of American civilians - the answer to their trauma expands to the degeneracy of the West, the absolute truth of Islam, etc.<br /><br />The American mission is under-defined. The Islamicist mission is over-defined, Just goes to show - a happy medium is always best.Wild and whirling wordshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09008065038496728607noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7082173774815417367.post-28480978933383613962014-04-10T13:52:56.895+01:002014-04-10T13:52:56.895+01:00Interesting argument. It's effectively the sam...Interesting argument. It's effectively the same one that's sometimes used to explain similar terrorism by Islamic fundamentalists: that global political machinations have impacted their individual psyches. The societies they attack have perpetrated violent acts against their culture in the form of wars; and so terrorism by a small minority is supposedly provoked. It's difficult to imagine how this works exactly, but perhaps these global political events spark something within individuals who are already vulnerable to psychopathy (and in your example, there is no overarching understanding or identification of the reality of the context to temper this or fall back on).Kate Parrinderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05351011458496433640noreply@blogger.com