Only connect
I was having connectivity problems this afternoon. Now I’m back online.
[NOTE: The quote in the title is from this.]
The New Neo
A blog about political change, among other things
I was having connectivity problems this afternoon. Now I’m back online.
[NOTE: The quote in the title is from this.]
A couple of comments that are from another blog but strike me as very wise.
1.The Inga reaction is precisely what the manifesto-writer anticipated.
The point is to begin or increase persecution, in order to speed up the social -cultural-political split, and to create incentives for avengers or copycats to amplify the effect.
The victims in this case are in a strange way quite incidental. There had to be victims of such deeds, but the selection can be quite random and opportunistic.
Anders Breivik had a much more specific target, that of removing the next generation of left-wing political figures when he fixed on the socialist youth camp. This was intended for a particular political effect. That was not like this, which is meant for a more traditional terrorist purpose, that of creating a reaction.
Inga is a left wing commenter,
2. This is precisely the sort of manifestation I was expecting in the US.
The general hatred and anxiety is piling up very quickly, and its inevitable that it will break out. The big surprise is that this one broke in New Zealand. Well, at least among the English-speaking it is one media world now.
The manifesto is explicit about the purpose, and historically this is a sound approach, if your purpose is to start revolutions and civil wars. Its the old anarchist “propaganda of the deed”, but of course it goes back before that. Its the same reasoning that Charles Manson used. Indeed, its the same reasoning the Russian Social Revolutionaries used in the 19th century, to force a reaction by the state, to enhance the contradictions. Lenins brother became a revolutionary martyr as a result of one such incident. This sort of thing succeeds, or doesn’t, depending on the perceived legitimacy and effectiveness of the state.
Ultimately the US in Mansons day was still sound, and his conspiracy was simply evil futility. In Russia the same thing was eventually effective in driving large factions of the intelligentsia and the state apart, as it exploited inherent weaknesses. What now, in this culture? We will see.
The manifesto is perceptive and clever. It anticipates a reaction, it perhaps deliberately invites suspicions of false flags, etc. And the fact that the lot of them let themselves be captured alive means that the whole thing will remain prominent for a long time. These people will remain available to speak for years.
When things crack, the cracks start at weak points, with insane or eccentric or demon-driven people. That doesn’t mean they can’t be extremely clever.
I had compared the shooter to Charles Manson.
I have also read that the attackers attempted to attack another mosque but someone in the mosque was armed and they were driven off.
The shooter/shooters attacked two mosques, 42 killed at one and 7 at the other one. https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12213236