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November 03, 2003

The Last Totalitarians

This one is a few years old, but it's a good article for placing the war against terrorism into a broader historical context. The Last Totalitarians is an article by Brink Lindsey, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute. My particular interest in this article is the notion of the battles against modernity, and in his words, "the root cause of the carnage lies in the radical discontent with modern industrial society."

What the terrorists are trying to do is an Industrial Counterrevolution. At some level one cannot blame them for their fanatic fear and reaction as their entire world seems to be dissolving in the face of science, freedom and a world seemingly without limits. If you find today daunting, imagine coming from a society rushing madly from the 12th century into the 20th, knowing full well that the 21st century is even more uncertain if not completely destructive to everything you believe to be true.

I would also recommend Escape from Freedom by Eric Fromm as well as The True Believer by Eric Hoffer.

Posted by dmzach

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