Fear and Panic in the Age of Terrorism: Marx (Briefly) Revisited

Tragedy has struck again as it has countless times before. Yesterday, London was subjected to a series of terrorist attacks, again directed toward innocent civilians. My thoughts and condolences go out to all those suffering as a result of these random acts of senseless violence.

It would seem plausable that if you are going to bomb someone to make a statement, political or otherwise (do keep in mind that I do not condone such behavior) why not bomb politicians and those alike that are elected or appointed often to directly shoulder the burden and subsequent alleviation of social maladies? The terrorists it seems are not only sick sadistic bastards, but also directionally impaired.

Terrorism is a complicated matter perhaps best exemplified by the old saying, one man’s terrorist is another’s freedom fighter. One could certainly provide a compelling argument that the United States, currently viewed by many around the world as a terrorist organization, was founded by a bunch of terrorists.

The “war on terror” is beginning to resemble the “war on drugs,” a tireless, shameless, and seemingly useless battle where we waste a vast amount of precious resources and where innocent civilians suffer the most casualties. Such battles have no foreseeable end. It would seem common sense that we should and need to rethink the situation.

I don’t claim to have the answers; I merely contend that our current solutions are not working and will never work. My thoughts regarding the matter, although utopic, are informed via Marxist ideology. First, religion must be eradicated. Second, resources must be redistributed. Easy enough right? However I must note that although I find most of his ideas compelling, I do not purport to be a Marxist.

Marx argued that religion kept people in check, passive, comfortably numb, or as his famous quote goes;

“Religious suffering is, at one and the same time, the expression of real suffering and a protest against real suffering. Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people” (Marx 1884).

Marx calls for the abolition of religion, an illusionary happiness, so to foster the development of a real happiness. They say kill the infidels, we say kill the infidels; they say Allah is on our side, we say God is on our side. Who is right and who is wrong doesn’t matter, theoretically if religion were eradicated nobody could justify violence in some silly hypocritical hocus pocus nonsense.

After the dissolution of religion, we simply redistribute the vast amount of available and sometimes unused and often wasted resources, thereby facilitating a peaceful coexisting society. Unfortunately the dream espoused by Marx will never be realized, and as a result we will live in a constant state of fear and perpetual panic that is exacerbated by an ever expanding globalized media.

"You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one, I hope some day you'll join us, and the world will live as one" (J. Lennon).