08-27-2014, 04:01 PM
Lemon Drop wrote:
"Young men that are not given a constructive challenge will often find meaning for their lives in puritanical religious ideology - especially if they are immersed in a society that generally highly values religious piety."
I know this is a popular thing for westerners to say when describing what they think is wrong elsewhere - but - I"m not sure it accurately describes our present day jihadis, most of whom are educated middle class people who speak English, and in hundreds of cases with IS are actually UK citizens. One suspect (and there are many) in the execution of James Foley is allegedly a rapper who has very wealthy parents in London.
The 9/11 perps were mostly middle class guys too.
These people could certainly make other choices with their lives. They are radicalized but I don't think it's because they have no other options. If you're Arab, you've got plenty of real reasons to hate the US and the UK. This approach won't work, but you could understand why particularly in the post 9/11 world they might find this extremism is the best way to get the world's attention.
It's true that many jihadists are not economically disaffected, but I think they do draw a great deal of strength from young men who are. I wonder if anyone has done a study on that.