Terror And Terrorism

 

Terror and Terrorism

“We are more often frightened than hurt; and we suffer more from imagination than from reality.”

-Lucius Annaeus Seneca

“One of the hardest parts of my job is to connect Iraq to the war on terror.”    

–George W. Bush

George Bush coined the “war on terror.” He was absolutely right—the need to confront terror is essential if we are to become sustainable.   But let’s be realistic here—President Bush either didn’t know the real meaning of the word or we, the public, didn’t (and still don’t) know the meaning of the word. Terror means fear; terrorism means the use of violence and manipulation for political aims. Let’s get the two straight.

There has certainly been a war on terrorism. If we consider the reality of the last 15 years, it becomes increasingly clear that what has gone on in the Middle East and beyond is most certainly a war on, but more of, terrorism.  As Howard Zinn once asked, “How can you have a war on terrorism when war itself is terrorism?” The death toll of American soldiers and innocent civilians, the economic costs to the American tax-payers, and the all-around destruction of the countries we have invaded, could hardly be justifiable at any level.  The majority of the world does not realize that the only beneficiaries to this war are the corporations—profiting from perpetual debt of the war-torn but oil-rich nations we have destroyed—and the government, profiting from a unified, uneducated American public. This, in every way, is terrorism. This is the method we have used for the last 70 years to Imperialize poor nations, enslave them in debt, and manipulate them for their resources and labor—all in the interest of those involved in the political agenda. We have done this all over the world and continue to do it today. The “war on terrorism” is the billions of people suffering at the hands of greed and manipulation—the people who we don’t see; the ones who are merely statistics are at the forefront of this injustice. The real terrorists are not the troglodytes of the Afghan mountains, they are the corporate CEOs intent on maximizing profits at any cost.

So now let’s consider the “war on terror.” Think of it as the “war on fear.” This is the cover-up for the real terrorism that is going on because, as we have seen repeatedly through history, fear is an excellent tool for obedience. By convincing the public that we are fighting against terrorism, the ever-elusive enemy, the politicians have pulled the ultimate manipulation technique. And they have done it right under our noses. By instilling fear in the public, they have managed to get us to obey, willingly, immoral and unjustified actions at the expense of all but a few profit-mongering business-people. This is unacceptable. It is unjust to you and me, and even more so to the billions of people suffering incredible poverty, while not even knowing why.  We can take back our democracy by insisting that we break out of this enslavement. We can win the “war on terror” by educating ourselves on the reality of the global predicament and acknowledging the value of our lives in helping to better the world for all. In this way, the strategy to win this war is to acknowledge that we are fighting for those without a voice, for those suffering at the hands of the few. We are fighting for the Earth and all life dwelling upon it. We are fighting for our own rights to have meaningful lives, to not be enslaved by a system that sees us as cattle to herd where it sees fit.

The technique of instilling terror in the public to promote manipulation and self-interests is not democracy; it’s oligarchy. It is the partner to the mentality that separation is good and selfishness is key—the result of a culture that dwells in the thinking mind rather than the heart. The mind wants to close itself to preserve its sense of identity and the heart wants to expand itself to connect to its identity-less-ness. As Ram Dass said, “The mind is an excellent servant but a terrible master.” The courage to assert the heart’s perpetual love is profound. It is the anti-poison for a system that feeds off of separation and fear. We can access this love if we choose to, and in doing so, watch as the system intent upon separation gives way to a much more sensible model.

This is already happening. The revolution in consciousness that is taking place is the war against terror. We are asserting love into a void of fear and, inevitably, we will win this war. Love always beats fear. And when we realize that we have the overwhelming majority—that of the over 7 billion people in this world, all but a few thousand are fighting the same battle we are, we will win the war against terrorism, too.