Perspective (on San Bernardino, terror, and Trump)

[markpkessinger]

(Posted this a little while ago to Facebook, after reading that fear of terrorism in the wake of the San Bernardino shootings is driving a rise in Trump's poll numbers.)

Perspective --

* Two disturbed, white American high school students shoot up Columbine High School, killing 13 and wounding 20; and Americans wring their hands, ask, "What ever shall we do," and then go about their business as if nothing had happened.

* A white, middle-aged stock trader in Atlanta shoots up a couple of office buildings in Atlanta, killing 12 and injuring 13, and Americans wring their hands, say, "Isn't that horrible," and then go about their business as if nothing had happened. as if nothing

* .A white, middle-aged guy shoots up an Amish school in Nickel Mines, PA, and American wring their hands, commend the Amish for their remarkable capacity to forgive, and go about their business as if nothing had happened.

* A young, white guy shoots up a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, killing 12 and injuring 70, and Americans wring their hands, ask, "Oh, what shall we do," and then go about their business as if nothing had happened.

* A young, disturbed white guy shoots up an elementary school in Newtown, CT, killing 26, including 20 children, and Americans wring their hands -- a little longer this time -- then go about their business as if it had never happened.

THEN . . .

* A Muslim American man and his Pakistani wife, self-radicalized in 2013 before ISIS was even a thing, and acting entirely on their own, go on a shooting spree in San Bernardino, CA, killing 14 and injuring 20, and "OH, MY GOD, IT'S THE END OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION AS WE KNOW IT!"

Seriously, people -- GET A GRIP!

[Yorktown]

1. Are you sure of your perspective?

Someone posted on DU a graph showing the share of islamic terrorism in the US was increasing

[BlueMTexpat]

2. How - in any years other

than 2001 or 2006 - does this graph show that Islamic terrorism is more prevalent in the US than RW terrorism?

How does the chart disprove the OP's point?

[Yorktown]

3. Look at the trend of blue out of the total

I can run it on an Excel file if I approximate the numbers from the graph.

[BlueMTexpat]

6. Just from a comparison of the blues

and reds, I ask again, how does this graph negate the OP's point?

I don't really need to see the numbers. I am not arguing that Islamic-inspired terrorism in the US has not increased since the 1990s. I am simply remarking that the prevalence of RW (supposedly Christian) extremist terrorism in the US is greater, except for the years 2001 and 2006, according to this graph.

As an American in the US, your odds are greater for being a victim of RW Christian extremists than they are of being a victim of Islamic-inspired terrorism.

I currently live near GVA, Switzerland. My odds on being a victim of Islamic extremism right now are much higher than yours ... and they still are not at all high. I received an alert from the US Embassy in Bern last night.

That alert will not rule my life ... I will not rush out to buy a gun, nor will I damn my many Muslim friends and neighbors, who are just as likely to be victims as I am. I plan to continue doing what I had planned to do, just as will everyone else I know. We will use common sense, however, as we always do.

[Yorktown]

8. It doesn't negate the OP, it puts the OP's 'perspective' .. in perspective

No doubt out of empathy for innocent Muslims, the PO was making light of the rise of Islamic extremism.

Which, imho, is a mistake.

[BlueMTexpat]

10. My take was rather than

making light of it, the OP was wondering why it is only Muslims - a tiny tally of the examples provided - who mean the end of western civilization insofar as US media are concerned.

IMO, "civilization" in the US where it seems that every idiot - of whatever predilection - has a right to buy unlimited numbers of automatic weapons - is already barbaric. A lot of my fellow US citizens, and certainly a majority of those appalled citizens of the world outside the US, share that belief.

But you seem to want to continue with your "Muslim extremists" theme instead of wondering what in the hell is wrong generally with a country that has never been bombed back to the Stone Age, surrounded by armed enemies, or invaded since 1812 or so and that is separated from most major conflicts by two huge oceans such that it must constantly push a culture of fear against any "Other."

Please get a grip. These attitudes make us a literal laughingstock to those who have actually experienced conflict.

[Yorktown]

13. I have experienced conflict

It's not nice.

[napkinz]

4. right-wing extremism is still the greatest threat ...

[Yorktown]

5. still is the key word here

The worldwide trend is that Muslim extremism has been growing

since Iran 1979, Mecca 1987 and Afghanistan 1989.

[BlueMTexpat]

7. You really don't get out much,

do you?

You need to get out of your bubble and quit watching US media. You will notice a remarkable improvement in your enjoyment of life.

The odds on either of us (and mine are much higher on that than yours right now) being a victim of Islamic-inspired terrorism are much lower than on either of us being a victim of RW Christian extremism.

[Yorktown]

9. Ah! The dangers of assuming too much.

I'm an expat too and I've lived and worked all over the place.

I also speak a few languages, which helps get a better feeling for different cultures.

[BlueMTexpat]

11. Nice to hear that you have been out and about

and also speak a couple languages.

But has that experience been recent?

[Yorktown]

12. Yes.

And I've been in most of Huntington's geopolitical blocs.

Including in Muslim areas where I met lots of nice people.

Which isn't linked to the growing danger of Islam, the political ideology.

[markpkessinger]

14. Exactly, thank you! n/t