Suicidalism
By Eric S. Raymond
esr.ibiblio.org | September 29, 2005

The most important weapons of al-Qaeda and the rest of the Islamist terror
network are the suicide bomber and the suicide thinker. The suicide bomber
is typically a Muslim fanatic whose mission it is to spread terror; the
suicide thinker is typically a Western academic or journalist or politician
whose mission it is to destroy the West's will to resist not just terrorism
but any ideological challenge at all.

But al-Qaeda didn't create the ugly streak of nihilism and self-loathing
that afflicts too many Western intellectuals. Nor, I believe, is it a
natural development. It was brought to us by Department V of the KGB, which
was charged during the Cold War with conducting memetic warfare that would
destroy the will of the West's intelligentsia to resist a Communist
takeover. This they did with such magnificent effect that the infection
outlasted the Soviet Union itself and remains a pervasive disease of
contemporary Western intellectual life.

Consider the following propositions:

There is no truth, only competing agendas.

All Western (and especially American) claims to moral superiority over
Communism/Fascism/Islam are vitiated by the West's history of racism and
colonialism.

There are no objective standards by which we may judge one culture to be
better than another. Anyone who claims that there are such standards is an
evil oppressor.

The prosperity of the West is built on ruthless exploitation of the Third
World; therefore Westerners actually deserve to be impoverished and
miserable. [the origin of the left's anti-white Nazism]

Crime is the fault of society, not the individual criminal.

Poor criminals are entitled to what they take.

Submitting to criminal predation is more virtuous than resisting it.

The poor are victims. Criminals are victims. And only victims are virtuous.
Therefore only the poor and criminals are virtuous. (Rich people can borrow
some virtue by identifying with poor people and criminals.)

For a virtuous person, violence and war are never justified. It is always
better to be a victim than to fight, or even to defend oneself.

But "oppressed" people are allowed to use violence anyway; they are merely
reflecting the evil of their oppressors.

When confronted with terror, the only moral course for a Westerner is to
apologize for past sins, understand the terrorist's point of view, and make
concessions.

These ideas travel under many labels: postmodernism, nihilism,
multiculturalism, Third-World-ism, pacifism, "political correctness" to name
just a few. It is time to recognize them for what they are, and call them by
their right name: suicidalism.

Trace any of these back far enough (e.g. to the period between 1930 and 1950
when Department V was at its most effective) and you'll find a Stalinist at
the bottom. Among the more notorious examples we

Paul de Man - racist and Nazi propagandist turned Stalinist, and fonder of
postmodernism;
Jean-Paul Sartre, who described the effects of Stalinism as "humane terror"
and helped invent existentialism; and Paul Baran, who developed the thesis
that capitalism depended on the immiseration of the Third World after
Marx's immiseration of the proletariat failed to materialize.

Al-Qaeda didn't launch any of these memes into the noosphere, but it relies
on them for political cover. They have another effect as well: when
Islamists characterize the West as "decadent", and is waiting to collapse in
on itself at the touch of jihad, they are describing quite correctly and
accurately the effects of Western suicidalism.

Stalinist agitprop created Western suicidalism by successfully building on
the Christian idea that self-sacrifice (and even self-loathing) are the
primary indicators of virtue.

In this way of thinking, when we surrender our well-being to others we store
up grace in Heaven that is far more important than the momentary discomfort
of submitting to criminals, predatory governments, and terrorists.

The Communist atheists of Department V understood that Christian
self-abnegation tends to inculcate a cult of self-sacrifice even among
Westerners who are themselves agnostics or atheists. All the propagandists
had to do was make the case that the value of self-abnegation applies to
culture as well as individuals. By doing so, they were able to entrench the
idea that suicidalists are morally superior to non-suicidalists.

They did this so successfully that at least one major form of Western
self-abnegation seems to have developed as a secondary phenomenon: "deep
environmentalism". I can't find any sign that this traces back to the usual
Stalinist suspects, but it is rather obviously a result of generalizing
suicidalism not just to culture but to species.

I think it's important to understand that, although suicidalism builds on
some pre-existing pathologies of Western culture, it is not a native or
natural development. It is an infection that evildoers and their dupes
created and then spread as part of a war against the West; their goal was
totalitarian control, and part of their method was to talk the West into
slitting its own throat.

Al-Qaeda's goal is the restoration of the Caliphate and the imposition of
shari'a law on the West so that the Dar al-Harb is abolished and absorbed
into the Dar al-Islam. In other words, totalitarian theocracy. Western
suicidalists have transferred their allegiance from Communism to
Islamofascism without a hitch. They're doing their best to see that we
lose - and their best is rather more effective than any bombing campaign.

Thus, to defeat al-Qaeda, stopping the suicide bombers is not sufficient.
We must recognize, condemn, and reject the suicide thinkers as well.

UPDATE: Readers who think I'm peddling mere conspiracy theory here should
read Double Lives: Stalin, Willi Münzenberg and the Seduction of the
Intellectuals for a description of the way KGB disinformation activity,
espionage and memetic warfare fused in the 1930s.

http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles...e.asp?ID=19658

The view of history here is very, very short, but hardly surprising given
the continuing "history is bunk" and only honoring the new.

SeeingEyeDog wrote:

Suicidalism
By Eric S. Raymond
esr.ibiblio.org | September 29, 2005

The most important weapons of al-Qaeda and the rest of the Islamist terror
network are the suicide bomber and the suicide thinker. The suicide bomber
is typically a Muslim fanatic whose mission it is to spread terror; the
suicide thinker is typically a Western academic or journalist or
politician whose mission it is to destroy the West's will to resist not
just terrorism but any ideological challenge at all.

But al-Qaeda didn't create the ugly streak of nihilism and self-loathing
that afflicts too many Western intellectuals. Nor, I believe, is it a
natural development. It was brought to us by Department V of the KGB,
which
was charged during the Cold War with conducting memetic warfare that
would destroy the will of the West's intelligentsia to resist a Communist
takeover. This they did with such magnificent effect that the infection
outlasted the Soviet Union itself and remains a pervasive disease of
contemporary Western intellectual life.

Consider the following propositions:

There is no truth, only competing agendas.

All Western (and especially American) claims to moral superiority over
Communism/Fascism/Islam are vitiated by the West's history of racism and
colonialism.

There are no objective standards by which we may judge one culture to be
better than another. Anyone who claims that there are such standards is an
evil oppressor.

The prosperity of the West is built on ruthless exploitation of the Third
World; therefore Westerners actually deserve to be impoverished and
miserable. [the origin of the left's anti-white Nazism]

Crime is the fault of society, not the individual criminal.

Poor criminals are entitled to what they take.

Submitting to criminal predation is more virtuous than resisting it.

The poor are victims. Criminals are victims. And only victims are
virtuous. Therefore only the poor and criminals are virtuous. (Rich people
can borrow some virtue by identifying with poor people and criminals.)

For a virtuous person, violence and war are never justified. It is always
better to be a victim than to fight, or even to defend oneself.

But "oppressed" people are allowed to use violence anyway; they are merely
reflecting the evil of their oppressors.

When confronted with terror, the only moral course for a Westerner is to
apologize for past sins, understand the terrorist's point of view, and
make concessions.

These ideas travel under many labels: postmodernism, nihilism,
multiculturalism, Third-World-ism, pacifism, "political correctness" to
name just a few. It is time to recognize them for what they are, and call
them by their right name: suicidalism.

Trace any of these back far enough (e.g. to the period between 1930 and
1950 when Department V was at its most effective) and you'll find a
Stalinist at the bottom. Among the more notorious examples we

Paul de Man - racist and Nazi propagandist turned Stalinist, and fonder of
postmodernism;
Jean-Paul Sartre, who described the effects of Stalinism as "humane
terror"
and helped invent existentialism; and Paul Baran, who developed the
thesis
that capitalism depended on the immiseration of the Third World after
Marx's immiseration of the proletariat failed to materialize.

Al-Qaeda didn't launch any of these memes into the noosphere, but it
relies on them for political cover. They have another effect as well: when
Islamists characterize the West as "decadent", and is waiting to collapse
in on itself at the touch of jihad, they are describing quite correctly
and accurately the effects of Western suicidalism.

Stalinist agitprop created Western suicidalism by successfully building on
the Christian idea that self-sacrifice (and even self-loathing) are the
primary indicators of virtue.

In this way of thinking, when we surrender our well-being to others we
store up grace in Heaven that is far more important than the momentary
discomfort of submitting to criminals, predatory governments, and
terrorists.

The Communist atheists of Department V understood that Christian
self-abnegation tends to inculcate a cult of self-sacrifice even among
Westerners who are themselves agnostics or atheists. All the
propagandists had to do was make the case that the value of
self-abnegation applies to culture as well as individuals. By doing so,
they were able to entrench the
idea that suicidalists are morally superior to non-suicidalists.

They did this so successfully that at least one major form of Western
self-abnegation seems to have developed as a secondary phenomenon: "deep
environmentalism". I can't find any sign that this traces back to the
usual Stalinist suspects, but it is rather obviously a result of
generalizing suicidalism not just to culture but to species.

I think it's important to understand that, although suicidalism builds on
some pre-existing pathologies of Western culture, it is not a native or
natural development. It is an infection that evildoers and their dupes
created and then spread as part of a war against the West; their goal was
totalitarian control, and part of their method was to talk the West into
slitting its own throat.

Al-Qaeda's goal is the restoration of the Caliphate and the imposition of
shari'a law on the West so that the Dar al-Harb is abolished and absorbed
into the Dar al-Islam. In other words, totalitarian theocracy. Western
suicidalists have transferred their allegiance from Communism to
Islamofascism without a hitch. They're doing their best to see that we
lose - and their best is rather more effective than any bombing campaign.

Thus, to defeat al-Qaeda, stopping the suicide bombers is not
sufficient. We must recognize, condemn, and reject the suicide thinkers as
well.

UPDATE: Readers who think I'm peddling mere conspiracy theory here should
read Double Lives: Stalin, Willi Münzenberg and the Seduction of the
Intellectuals for a description of the way KGB disinformation activity,
espionage and memetic warfare fused in the 1930s.

http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles...e.asp?ID=19658

All politicians should practice Suicidalism. www.crooksandliars.com
cuhulin

No the problem is fundamentalists. All fundamentalists. There is no
greater threat to democracy than religious fanatics: Christian, Muslim or
Jewish, it makes little difference. All will kill in the name or their god.
None believe in the rule of law.


--
Brian Denley
http://home.comcast.net/~b.denley/index.html

BD,

Here we go again propagating the Liberal Democrat Party of the USA
Anti-Christian and Anti-Jew Hate by trying to 'equate' Conservative
{Fundamentalist} Christians and Jews with the Islam-O-Fascist
Terrorists.

BD - So tell me how many Christian 'fundamentalist' have gone to
Tehran, Cairo, Damascus, Riyadh, Tehran, Islamabad, and Jakarta;
and flown an Airplane into a building; or exploded a Car Bomb
in front of a Mosque ? ? ?
- - - Lets see your list BD !

BD - When have the Jewish 'fundamentalist' gone to London, Paris,
Berlin, Chicago, Seattle, Tokyo, Hong Kong, and Moscow and kill
everyone in a School, or blown-up and airplane in-flight ? ? ?
- - - Lets see your list BD !

BD - Get Real ! - Stop Targeting All Religions for the Crimes
of the Islam-O-Fascist Terrorist.

BD - Stop Promoting Hate - Against Persons-of-Faith !
Especially Christians and Jews BD.

BD - Get Off 'your' Democrat Party of the USA 'moral equivalency'
Mantra by trying to Link Conservative Jews and Christians with
the Islam-O-Fascist Terrorists.

BD - The way that 'you' use the Code Word "Fundamentalist" when
referring to Conservative Jews and Christians is a clear indicator
of your Open Hatred for People-of-Faith. Liberals use the Word
"Fundamentalist" as a form of Hate Speech to encourage Bigotry
and Bias against Christians and Jews.

The Goal of these Left-Wing Political Activists is to Create a
{Liberal} Secular Society where being a Person-of-Faith is a Crime.

God {Allah} Bless America - Amen.

for i have faith and i believe - amen ~ RHF

U.N. Whirled Government

If a global consensus is reached for the 'Alliance of Civilizations'
project, work will begin for the establishment of a 'World Parliament' under
U.N. leadership.

" A high-level group of 18 to 20 prominent intellectuals will prepare for
the U.N. a 'road map' for action.

"This Commission of eminent intellectuals [which will include Iran's former
president Khatami] that will determine ways to eliminate cultural and
religious discrimination and to minimize conflicts is expected to present a
report with recommendations and an 'action plan' by the end of 2006. One
such recommendation may be the removal from school books of any material
offensive to the cultures and religions of Islam and the West. The report
prepared by this Commission will be presented to Kofi Annan, who then will
bring it to the floor of the U.N. General Assembly for a vote.

"Later, the worldwide implementation of the recommendations will begin. Upon
achievement of the targeted results, the U.N. will launch the second phase
of the project, for the establishment of a 'World Parliament.' The 'Alliance
of Civilizations' will constitute the basis for the future 'World
Parliament,'

http://memri.org/bin/latestnews.cgi?ID=SD99505
__________________________________________________ _

"RHF" wrote in message
oups.com...
BD,

Here we go again propagating the Liberal Democrat Party of the USA
Anti-Christian and Anti-Jew Hate by trying to 'equate' Conservative
{Fundamentalist} Christians and Jews with the Islam-O-Fascist
Terrorists.

BD - So tell me how many Christian 'fundamentalist' have gone to
Tehran, Cairo, Damascus, Riyadh, Tehran, Islamabad, and Jakarta;
and flown an Airplane into a building; or exploded a Car Bomb
in front of a Mosque ? ? ?
- - - Lets see your list BD !

BD - When have the Jewish 'fundamentalist' gone to London, Paris,
Berlin, Chicago, Seattle, Tokyo, Hong Kong, and Moscow and kill
everyone in a School, or blown-up and airplane in-flight ? ? ?
- - - Lets see your list BD !

BD - Get Real ! - Stop Targeting All Religions for the Crimes
of the Islam-O-Fascist Terrorist.

BD - Stop Promoting Hate - Against Persons-of-Faith !
Especially Christians and Jews BD.

BD - Get Off 'your' Democrat Party of the USA 'moral equivalency'
Mantra by trying to Link Conservative Jews and Christians with
the Islam-O-Fascist Terrorists.

BD - The way that 'you' use the Code Word "Fundamentalist" when
referring to Conservative Jews and Christians is a clear indicator
of your Open Hatred for People-of-Faith. Liberals use the Word
"Fundamentalist" as a form of Hate Speech to encourage Bigotry
and Bias against Christians and Jews.

The Goal of these Left-Wing Political Activists is to Create a
{Liberal} Secular Society where being a Person-of-Faith is a Crime.

God {Allah} Bless America - Amen.

for i have faith and i believe - amen ~ RHF
.
.
. .

Brian Denley wrote:
No the problem is fundamentalists. All fundamentalists. There is no
greater threat to democracy than religious fanatics: Christian, Muslim
or
Jewish, it makes little difference. All will kill in the name or their
god.
None believe in the rule of law.


--
Brian Denley
http://home.comcast.net/~b.denley/index.html

"RHF" wrote in message
oups.com...
BD,

Here we go again propagating the Liberal Democrat Party of the USA
Anti-Christian and Anti-Jew Hate by trying to 'equate' Conservative
{Fundamentalist} Christians and Jews with the Islam-O-Fascist
Terrorists.

BD - So tell me how many Christian 'fundamentalist' have gone to
Tehran, Cairo, Damascus, Riyadh, Tehran, Islamabad, and Jakarta;
and flown an Airplane into a building; or exploded a Car Bomb
in front of a Mosque ? ? ?
- - - Lets see your list BD !

They don't have to. They have abortion clinics here to bomb.


BD - When have the Jewish 'fundamentalist' gone to London, Paris,
Berlin, Chicago, Seattle, Tokyo, Hong Kong, and Moscow and kill
everyone in a School, or blown-up and airplane in-flight ? ? ?
- - - Lets see your list BD !

You haven't been paying attention to what goes on in the Middle East have
you?


BD - Get Real ! - Stop Targeting All Religions for the Crimes
of the Islam-O-Fascist Terrorist.

You must have forgotten all about the Cruisades and the inquisitions too.


BD - Stop Promoting Hate - Against Persons-of-Faith !
Especially Christians and Jews BD.

Yeah, and while you are at it, can you get the Chrisitans to stop promoting
hate of gays, lesbians, et. al.


BD - Get Off 'your' Democrat Party of the USA 'moral equivalency'
Mantra by trying to Link Conservative Jews and Christians with
the Islam-O-Fascist Terrorists.

BD - The way that 'you' use the Code Word "Fundamentalist" when
referring to Conservative Jews and Christians is a clear indicator
of your Open Hatred for People-of-Faith. Liberals use the Word
"Fundamentalist" as a form of Hate Speech to encourage Bigotry
and Bias against Christians and Jews.

The Goal of these Left-Wing Political Activists is to Create a
{Liberal} Secular Society where being a Person-of-Faith is a Crime.

God {Allah} Bless America - Amen.

for i have faith and i believe - amen ~ RHF
.
.
. .

Brian Denley wrote:
No the problem is fundamentalists. All fundamentalists. There is no
greater threat to democracy than religious fanatics: Christian, Muslim or
Jewish, it makes little difference. All will kill in the name or their
god.
None believe in the rule of law.


--
Brian Denley
http://home.comcast.net/~b.denley/index.html

Since Katrina and Rita,I have been paying much more attention to what is
going on in this part of America.That Bell South woman (she is
originally from Natchez,Mississippi) is next door now and she has her
work clothes on,raggity bluejeans and a brown sweat shirt and she
hasen't got the water turned on over there yet,so I told her I have some
spare water hoses and she is going to hook up her camper to the outside
water fawcet on my house.She said a girl friend of hers is going to move
in with her (they are both single) and her girl friend has a rabbit.I am
fixin to step over there and help her some more working on her house.
cuhulin

FDR wrote:
"RHF" wrote in message
oups.com...
BD,

Here we go again propagating the Liberal Democrat Party of the USA
Anti-Christian and Anti-Jew Hate by trying to 'equate' Conservative
{Fundamentalist} Christians and Jews with the Islam-O-Fascist
Terrorists.

BD - So tell me how many Christian 'fundamentalist' have gone to
Tehran, Cairo, Damascus, Riyadh, Tehran, Islamabad, and Jakarta;
and flown an Airplane into a building; or exploded a Car Bomb
in front of a Mosque ? ? ?
- - - Lets see your list BD !

They don't have to. They have abortion clinics here to bomb.

"RHF" wrote in message
ups.com...
FDR wrote:
"RHF" wrote in message
oups.com...
BD,

Here we go again propagating the Liberal Democrat Party of the USA
Anti-Christian and Anti-Jew Hate by trying to 'equate' Conservative
{Fundamentalist} Christians and Jews with the Islam-O-Fascist
Terrorists.

BD - So tell me how many Christian 'fundamentalist' have gone to
Tehran, Cairo, Damascus, Riyadh, Tehran, Islamabad, and Jakarta;
and flown an Airplane into a building; or exploded a Car Bomb
in front of a Mosque ? ? ?
- - - Lets see your list BD !

They don't have to. They have abortion clinics here to bomb.
.
FDR - The acts of a single crazy individual against persons the view
as performing mass murders; can note be equated to the organized acts
of the Islam-O-Fascist Groups who simple target any innocent group of
person to be killed as an Act-of-Terrorism.

Though only several have done bombings, there are a lot more that support
such actions in the name of Christ.


\ .
FDR [Note] Your example is exactly why the Liberals and the Left-Wing
who now run and control the Democrat Party of the USA are trying to
propagate a justification to promote HATE "Against" Conservative
{Fundamentalist} Christians and Jews as a Group. Please Note that
I Do Not 'brand' all persons of the Islamic Faith as Terrorist or
Criminals for simply being a Person-of-Faith : I only point-out
that the small group of Islam-O-Fascist who in-fact do commit
crimes against innocent people are Criminals.
.


BD - When have the Jewish 'fundamentalist' gone to London, Paris,
Berlin, Chicago, Seattle, Tokyo, Hong Kong, and Moscow and kill
everyone in a School, or blown-up and airplane in-flight ? ? ?
- - - Lets see your list BD !

You haven't been paying attention to what goes on in the Middle East have
you?

.
FDR - So you would have the State of Israel sit back and NOT defend
itself from the Terrorist Acts of Islam-O-Fascist.
.
FDR - Who is Killing Our American Soldiers in Iraq ?
The Jews ? - No !
The Christians ? - No !
The Islam-O-Fascist ? - Hell Yes [.]
Get Real FDR - The Truth Shall Set You Free - Be Free !
.
FDR - This is why most Americans DO NOT TRUST the Democrat Party
of the USA to Defend the American Homeland from the Future Acts
of Terrorism by the Islam-O-Fascist to Target whole Cities for
Mass Murder of Hundreds, Thousand and Millions of Innocent Men,
Women and Children for simply being an American.
.

BD - Get Real ! - Stop Targeting All Religions for the Crimes
of the Islam-O-Fascist Terrorist.

You must have forgotten all about the Cruisades and the inquisitions too.

.
FDR - Typical THINKING of the Democrat Party of the USA :
.
THE CRUISADES -
So tell me - How Many Years Ago (Centuries Ago ) were the Cruisades ?
So tell me - How Many Americans were Cruisaders ?
- - - Oops There You Go Again FDR repeating the Democrat Party
of the USA Mantra trying to Blame the current Terrorist Acts of
the Islam-O-Fascist on 'The Cruisades' {Those Evil Christians}
.
THE INQUISITIONS -
So tell me - How Many Years Ago (Centuries Ago ) was the Inquisitions ?

Just saying that fanaticism abounds in other religions too.


So tell me - How Many Americans were Members of Inquisitions ?

One has to be American to be Christian?

- - - Oops There You Go Again FDR repeating the Democrat Party
of the USA Mantra trying to Blame the current existance of any
Christian Person-of-Faith on 'The Inquisition' {Those Evil Christians}
.

BD - Stop Promoting Hate - Against Persons-of-Faith !
Especially Christians and Jews BD.

Yeah, and while you are at it, can you get the Chrisitans
to stop promoting hate of gays, lesbians, et. al.
.
FDR - Another Democrat Party of the USA "LIE" designed to
propagate HATE Against Christians. As a Article-of-Faith
most Christians view Homo-Sexually and Prostitution as a
Sin and they do Condemn the Sin { But Not the Sinner }.

Bull****.

These {Evil} Christians would ask the Sinner to Kneel-Down
and Pray with Them for Deliverance from their Sins.

Except it's not a sin. Unless you think love is a sin.

.
FDR - However, you may wish to Contrast that with many members
of the Islamic Faith who would take these same individuals to
a Public Square and have them Stoned-to-Death.
.
FDR - Keep Preaching that Hate for Christians and Jews and
Keep Showing the Truth Colors of the Democrat Party of the USA.
.
.
so say i - my opinions stated as facts ~ RHF
.
.
. .



BD - Get Off 'your' Democrat Party of the USA 'moral equivalency'
Mantra by trying to Link Conservative Jews and Christians with
the Islam-O-Fascist Terrorists.

BD - The way that 'you' use the Code Word "Fundamentalist" when
referring to Conservative Jews and Christians is a clear indicator
of your Open Hatred for People-of-Faith. Liberals use the Word
"Fundamentalist" as a form of Hate Speech to encourage Bigotry
and Bias against Christians and Jews.

The Goal of these Left-Wing Political Activists is to Create a
{Liberal} Secular Society where being a Person-of-Faith is a Crime.

God {Allah} Bless America - Amen.

for i have faith and i believe - amen ~ RHF
.
.
. .

Brian Denley wrote:
No the problem is fundamentalists. All fundamentalists. There is no
greater threat to democracy than religious fanatics: Christian, Muslim
or
Jewish, it makes little difference. All will kill in the name or
their
god.
None believe in the rule of law.


--
Brian Denley
http://home.comcast.net/~b.denley/index.html