Terrified – not Quite.
To my mind three is something one must do in the so called “war against terror : One must wage a war agianst being terrified – Perhaps his is the only thing this obnoxious and frankly Idiotic –(but then the phrase came from Bush) means. I mean here not the patronizing and absolutely meaningless point that one must not change ones own life- as that lets the terrorists win – but something much darker and problematic Namely one must might the impulse to terror that is everyday being foistered on us- by the Politicalans and the journalist who are trying to convince us all that a global, and terrifying conspiracy is abroad, and which take special measured to allievate. This conspiracy of terror, and the very label would do justice to the witchcraft conspiray theories of the seventeen century.
What do I mean here? Surely the two must be different? Afterall this 9is the modern world? And anyway people in ewgypt in London, and in Iraq for that matter are really deing! How could it be ;likened to this obvious falasy of yesteryear – surely I am just some bizarre Liberal – who lives the the provinces, and lacks a sense of propostion.
Well maybe. But find the link persuvae. I particular it is clare that witchraft and terrorism share the same basic methodology – that of unifying under a single name – a whole variety of disperate motives and thoughts. I mean here I doubt there was ever a simple witcraft trial (any mor than there is a simple policemen or terrorist). Behind every investigatio there was a great multitude of feelings and thoughts- of motivs and ambtion, or fears and uncertainities all of which were cpodified in the words witch. Witchraft therefore was not a singl language – but rather a divergencent and diverse one – athat expressed itself not by creating a set of dotctrines and thoughts- but rather allowed many differing membersa of society to communicate across there differences through expressing them in a siongle lagauge – a language that to criss cross numerous motives, and open one series of actions onto another.
Noiw it strikes me that the same is ture of teriorists,. I mean here I doubt very muchg there is a single organsization – Al queda behind terrorism – or an a ritual act ‘ brain Wasjing’ (whatever that might mean) that creates the terrorists. Anymore that Witches went to Sabbats, an had a binble of their own. That is simply not the point. Nor do I suspect there is any but the vaguest links between different terrroist outrages ( I mean here the only real links I suspect are a shared vague feeling that something must be done against the unjiustice of the west – and the same ability to search the internet to find a bomb makig site –h an possibly the desire of the second set of bombers to be a kind of tribute band to the first set – who were themselves of course the tribute band to the 11/9 attacks in Newyork…) This is not an organization- but rather a single metaphor or language through which a set of feelings and thoughts different in themselves are being poured. And any attempt to create unity from this disjuntion is to simply loose the meassage.
Liewise it seems to me there is no real war on terror being waged by governement. Rather governments for a arieyy of squalid reasons, and small mpotiviations are ceasing onto the language of terror for there own diverse perurouse and reasons. So that the war on terror allows the same labngage to expresses all sorts of abuses- whether they are very minor/suttle ones such as ID cards, or much greater ones such of the outrages carried out by the Pakistan dictator or the governement of Isreal – it matters not they are all the war on terror. On this sense the polices shooting of a man because he had a tan and a dodgy VISA sems almost emblematic.
And these leads me at least- to have one great worry and one great hope.
My worry is that the rubbish that is currently being spouted by the terror merchants (be they journalists or politicians), will actually create more terroists – in the same way tht Iraq did. I mean was makes a terrorist is clearly very complex and diverse and mut not the reduced to platidutude or idiotic simplifaiction. I mean here am I the only one to think the most significant fact in the first Lodon bombing is surely the Bombers were created not in Pakistan or Iraq or even Palentstine but Leeds. I mean such I the domaince of the terror paradigm – so powerful has it become – that it is clear that adolscence stuck in Rasicst britian are using it to articulate there own existences. I mean hey have clearly cbhosen to be terrorists rather than shop keepers – or deliqunets or gang lords. Terrorism has become therefore something oiur society manufactures (like deliqunecy or witch-craft). And it strike me that as along as we forget this fact= as long I say that we seek to run away from it and look for causes elsewhere- or in the blanket term terrorism we can only breed more terriorists.
The hope then comes out of this. It strikes me that it might not be tii late to stop the iodtic and frankly alarming pardigm of terrioism from becoming established. Let us wage a war against terror – against the terror that is being created in us. Let us look therefore at each separate outrage – not in terms of a war on terro jbut rather as a highly complex and unique (and tajuc) event. An event hat is single (the terms events needsa absolutely to be questioned), and problematic – and with no ready made pardigm. If (and it is a big if) one can do this- if one can keep the forces of terror apart, and prevent their unholy union- it might not be too late to put into question the very ntion of terriorism.
I hope for all our sakes this is the case…