What makes a terrorist?Hatred of our freedoms? Gripes about colonialism? Poverty? Religion? All of the above?
No. What makes a terrorist is the same thing that makes a Nazi, a Communist, a fascist, or a Maoist. What makes them all the same is an adherence to a tyrannical ideology.
In his new book ‘What makes a Terrorist’, economist Alan Krueger debunks the theory that poverty spawns terrorism. He’s correct on that point and makes good case for it. People like to grab on to that rationale because social injustice is both understandable and preventable – the basis for all liberal solutions. If you can ‘understand’ the problem, you can work towards or talk through to a solution.
Not so with Sudden Jihad Syndrome as we have seen in numerous cases whereby normal-appearing Muslims abruptly become violent.
So what, according to Krueger, makes a terrorist?
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