Studies on radicalization & comments

[Bob's World]

Did the government radicalize the KKK?

You can't dismiss ethnic terrorism as simply poor governance.

Ok, fair enough, let's explore this niche of "ethnic terrorism."

Is this just pure racist violence for the sake of hate, or for some political purpose?

I'm no expert on what the KKK is today, but I believe it began as a political movement among people who shared certain beliefs about the relative roles, abilities, etc between white people and black people.

Or perhaps the persistent back and forth violence between Jews and Muslims in the Middle East? That undercurrent of cultural bias is there, but any of the organizations employing terrorist tactics that I am aware of do so for political purpose.

Or the Catholics and Protestants in N. Ireland?

Like religion, race can be a powerful unifying "ideology" for an insurgent movement.

The world will always have hateful, violent, ignorant people in it. Sometimes those people are in government and organize governments around such concepts. Sometimes they are in organizations that oppose governments and employ terrorist tactics.

But does one really "radicalize" a racist? Aren't they already radicalized by their very upbringing?

Are there many groups conducting race-based violence solely for the purpose or race hating and not for a larger organizational purpose built around some profit or political purpose?

Usually I see the term "radicalization" employed by those who support some system of governance to vilify those who oppose that same system.

I am reminded of a George Carlan comedy routine where he was talking about driving. The speed of any driver is in their mind, the "proper" speed. And when one gets stuck behind someone driving slower they are "an idiot," or passed by someone driving faster they are "a maniac." Of course both the Idiot and the Manic think that it is they who are proper, and to the idiot you are a maniac, and to the manic you are an idiot. Most governments think they are governing at the proper speed, and equally see those different than them as some mix of idiots and maniacs.

Obviously there are many exceptions, but by and large I stand by my assessment that the primary radicalizer of people is governments - after all, it is a label applied by governments thinking they are the ones who are right and the power and authority to deal with those who disagree as they see fit. Many governments deal with such people in a manner that serves to further "radicalize" them and the populaces they come from.

Does anyone think drone strikes are raising feeling of good will toward American governance among the populaces subjected to such attacks? We don't need AQ operatives to "radicalize" people in places like Yemen or the Sahel, we do an outstanding job on our own.