Nancy
Snow, writing today for The Guardian, has an interesting
depiction of the recent videos of American journalists being killed by ISIS
(Islamic State of Iraq and Syria). She
characterizes the videos as a propagandist recruiting effort. “I know good propaganda when I see it,” she
states.
Ms. Snow says the recruiting efforts are directed at “people
who have lost all other meaningful points of reference.” In her view, these people are simply searching
for meaning.
I disagree. I see it
from the perspective of those in pursuit of Authoritarianism.
The videos clearly elicit a differential reaction in
people. We either find them abhorrent or
we find them attractive. What accounts
for the differences in our perception?
Rather than simply dismiss the individuals attracted to the violence
as aberrational and “in search of meaning,” let’s do some research.
England and the United States can identify over 1,000
citizens who have travelled to the Middle East in search of the sanctity
provided by ISIS. What common
experiences and behaviors define these individuals?
Were they bullies in elementary school? Did they seek out particular cliques? Did their peers, parents, guardians, or
instructors have particular perceptions of them? What is the evidence?
Authoritarian behaviors do not suddenly appear. They develop over time. It would be interesting to find out what
drives these individuals to seek out opportunities to act with impunity. Why do they search for life and death
authority over other human beings? What
were the early manifestations?
Establishment institutions of our academic community apparently
do not see this as a worthwhile area of study.
Our culture has no interest in early identification of authoritarian
tendencies. Why is that?
Maybe the culture needs some study as well.
Return to Bottom
No comments:
Post a Comment