FantasyIdeology

ThoughtStorms Wiki

Interesting right-wing take on AlQaeda

Personal fantasy as motive rather than rational political aims.

https://web.archive.org/web/20021002052329/http://www.policyreview.org/AUG02/harris.html

I suppose what you might expect from a right-winge culture warrior (puts plenty of leftist dreams in the same CulturalMarxism bucket) but well explained.

I distrust this :

First of all, it should be obvious that if our enemy is motivated purely by a fantasy ideology, it is absurd for us to look for the so-called “root” causes of terrorism in poverty, lack of education, a lack of democracy, etc. Such factors play absolutely no role in the creation of a fantasy ideology. On the contrary, fantasy ideologies have historically been the product of members of the intelligentsia, middle-class at the very least and vastly better educated than average

Not clear that the willing buy-in to a fantasy by the masses isn't affected by poverty, lack of education and lack of democracy. Nor that fantasists like AlQaeda could act without some population support.

It's all about defining your own identity. FrancisFukuyama considers radical Islamicism as a product of second generation Islamic immigrants in non-Islamic countries, defining a new identity : (OnIdentity) http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110007491 (OnIdentity)

Good pithy description of the question of MultiCulturalism : In recent months, both the Dutch and British have in fact come to an overdue recognition that the old version of multiculturalism they formerly practiced was dangerous and counterproductive. Liberal tolerance was interpreted as respect not for the rights of individuals, but of groups, some of whom were themselves intolerant (by, for example, dictating whom their daughters could befriend or marry).

Maybe (WarpLink) to AntiAmericanism ... America is NationState conflated with ideology. Perhaps the response to NationState/UnderAttack is to more closely identify nation-states with political positions, identities. OTOH, isn't this leading to a fascistic nationalism? (Compare XEqualsHitler)

AmartyaSen says religious identity isn't everything : http://www.slate.com/id/2138731/