“The simple are meat for slaughter, to be used when they are useful in causing trouble for the opposing power and to be sacrificed when they are no longer of use.” William of Baskerville The Name of the RoseUmberto Eco
This passage is from a discussion Between the Franciscan monk William of Baskerville and the Benedictin Abbot Abo regarding heretics during the early 14th century. They could just as well be talking about people today. A little earlier in the discussion William states “Joining a heretical group, for many of them, is often only another way of shouting their own despair.” Change heretical to terrorist, militia, gang; it doesn’t matter, the psychological pathology is the same, only the cultural differences and level of despair truly divide them.
I want to say the most important thing to identify if we truly want to combat such groups is the despair they all share. A despair driven by poverty and fear of poverty. But behind the groups are wealthy backers who not only feed the despair but actively tap into it for their own desires for power. And as much as that sounds just like conspiracy thinking take the following into consideration.
Old Testament Micah 2
1 Woe to those who plan iniquity,
to those who plot evil on their beds!
At morning’s light they carry it out
because it is in their power to do it.
2 They covet fields and seize them,
and houses, and take them.
They defraud people of their homes,
they rob them of their inheritance.
The world has never lacked for people who plot evil and use power to do it, neither has it lacked for the people who they oppress and plot against.