Why Don't We Get It?

"Some people think only intellect counts: knowing how to solve problems, knowing how to get by, knowing how to identify an advantage and seize it. But the functions of intellect are insufficient without courage, love, friendship, compassion and empathy."
- Dean Koontz

In reading media reports and so-called analyses of terrorists, their actions and motives, I am struck by the near-universal tendency to either ignore or inanely over-simplify the motives of these people. In part, I can understand the reluctance of many to avoid looking at motivations too closely. At what point does analysing motivations slide into promoting justifications? In light of laws being considered in the UK and Australia, journalists could be forgiven for deciding that discretion is the better part of valour. More than likely though, it is simply easier to avoid thinking too hard. It's too easy to provide canned, one-dimensional excuses - "they hate our way of life", "they're evildoers". This both parrots and abets those in whose interest it is to avoid a more detailed examination, and does an extreme disservice to those of us who have woken up to find we are terrorist targets.

Let us be clear. The actions that are typically tagged as" terrorst" in the media are exactly that. They are explicitly meant to hurt, injure, maim and cripple their targets physically, psychologically, politically and economically. Some of those who plan and engage in these acts are criminally insane. But many are not. And the level of support that terrorist groups garner around the globe in the face of continuing violence begs the question - why? While the vast majority of people in the world do not support terrorists, many sympathise or identify with them. Why? It is abundantly clear that there are many in the world who see those reviled as terrorists as freedom fighters, righters of wrongs, David's versus a western Goliath. This support exists in varying degrees and with various foci throughout large parts of the world. From the Wahhabist fundamentalists who have the specific desire to see infidel America out of Saudi Arabia; those who oppose the US's influence in the global economy; those who consider the West indifferent to the suffering of the Palestinians; those who remember past injustices; those who desire a free hand to shape their country in their own image - all these people believe in the validity of their own causes and to a greater or lesser extent view the West (most specifically America) as either perpetrators or collaborators of sustained, on-going injustices. In any sufficiently large population like this you will get the full spectrum of support, ranging from understanding and sympathy, all the way to direct involvement.

Psychologically it is very difficult to accept that "we" could possibly be construed as the "bad guys". The desire to be loved is a natural instinct felt by people not only as individuals but on behalf of the groups we belong to: the family, the faith, the state. The single most difficult thing is to empathise with the "enemy". To put ourselves for a minute in the other guy's shoes and see things through his eyes. Empathy does not mean a blank acceptance of opposing points of view. But to empathise is to say, "OK, I see where you are coming from. I understand why you feel this way". This is the first step to understanding, to diplomacy, to compromise. And the reality is that compromise we must. The events of the last few years are proof writ large that the West cannot continue to behave unilaterally, with disregard for the positions of those less able to achieve their goals. The road to hell is paved with good intentions. Just as we decry terrorist acts irrespective of the motives behind them, we too need to understand that unilateral bullying and the imposition of our world view is considered hateful by those subject to them. The ends don't justify the means for anyone and the inevitable blowback is not lessened by having had noble intentions.

A large number of people in the world are in utter despair at the inability of us in the West to see their points of view - to empathise with their position. An equally large number of people cannot understand why the rest of the world is so resistant to the causes the West espouses. This is the fundamental sticking point that perpetuates the endless cycle of violent action and reaction in a macabre Groundhog Day. We must lift ourselves out of this ever-quickening, circle-dance of death. Failure to do so will be catastrophic. Laws that quash dissenting opinions, that stifle legitimate debate in a fog of fear do nothing to make us safer.