Water Hatred and It Blossoms
Poverty. Despair. Hatred. That is how extremism comes into existence. From poverty to despair to hatred. And, ultimately, action upon that hatred. It has come to light that one of the idiot terrorists that commited those acts of hatred in Paris was born in Paris 29 years ago. He had been accused of many petty crimes but never jailed. He grew up in one of the banlieues of Paris, where poverty amongst immigrants is the norm. He had left France to return to Algiers, the origin of his family, and was assumed to have fallen into the trap of radicalized hatred. Hatred toward a system that had created his poverty and from thence despair. The one thing that might have mitigated it was missing - a good education.
It's the usual problem. Every child should have access to a good, free public education which teaches him to think and learn, and eventually to find the learning necessary to acquire a decent job somewhere. But, during times of economic downturns, one of the first budgets cut is the education budget. Politicians tend to justify themselves saying a good teacher can teach thirty or forty students just as well as twenty. And that a coat of paint does not a classroom make. But it does make for good morale. And however good a teacher, there is a limit to the students he can reach out to. Especially when they come from homes where perhaps education is not viewed as important, or an area where criminal activity brings in more money and trinkets than a legal job.
Budget cuts never affect the rich. Those who manage the money on high don't see the tragedies they bring about by withholding funds from the only schools available to poor families. Most poor can't even afford subsidized private schools, in which they would still have to pay a fee, however small. So they comply with the law and send their children to the ever-poorer-in-resources local public schools. There they are given empty promises of a better future, for which they are not being prepared. So, many leave school and look for their future where they can find it, breaking into homes, stealing cars, pickpocketing. Frustrated, they follow whoever offers them something, anything.
Radicalized terrorism offers these misfits a chance to be heroes, in their own and other misfits' eyes. It teaches its reclutes hatred of a system that has shown them only empty promises. A system that puts the blame on poverty, yet does not help remedy that poverty. A system that teaches anyone can be whatever they want, yet does not help the poor achieve that opportunity. A system, that in the end, is only for those who have money to begin with. The poor have always been considered expendable. The radicalizers know just how to work upon this despair and lack of proper education by offering their own education. An education in hatred and revenge.
But this isn't simply about poverty in our world, it's poverty in the entire world. One of the best ways to eventually eradicate radicalism is to educate as many children as possible. To teach them how to think and better themselves. How do we stop wars and create less economic immigrants? By giving them the knowledge necessary to create a new society where they live free from hopeless poverty. True, politics usually get in the way. Many countries living under a tyrant have education vetted except for the elite. Universal education in the entire world will not happen in our lifetimes, or perhaps even in our children's lifetimes, but it is the only way to bring peace. And freedom from radical hatred.
We should begin in our own homes. Make a good public education one of the priorities of every country's budget, no matter the political party. Then we won't shake our heads at the "home-grown" terrorists who kill following the only thorough education they've had, an education in hatred.
It's the usual problem. Every child should have access to a good, free public education which teaches him to think and learn, and eventually to find the learning necessary to acquire a decent job somewhere. But, during times of economic downturns, one of the first budgets cut is the education budget. Politicians tend to justify themselves saying a good teacher can teach thirty or forty students just as well as twenty. And that a coat of paint does not a classroom make. But it does make for good morale. And however good a teacher, there is a limit to the students he can reach out to. Especially when they come from homes where perhaps education is not viewed as important, or an area where criminal activity brings in more money and trinkets than a legal job.
Budget cuts never affect the rich. Those who manage the money on high don't see the tragedies they bring about by withholding funds from the only schools available to poor families. Most poor can't even afford subsidized private schools, in which they would still have to pay a fee, however small. So they comply with the law and send their children to the ever-poorer-in-resources local public schools. There they are given empty promises of a better future, for which they are not being prepared. So, many leave school and look for their future where they can find it, breaking into homes, stealing cars, pickpocketing. Frustrated, they follow whoever offers them something, anything.
Radicalized terrorism offers these misfits a chance to be heroes, in their own and other misfits' eyes. It teaches its reclutes hatred of a system that has shown them only empty promises. A system that puts the blame on poverty, yet does not help remedy that poverty. A system that teaches anyone can be whatever they want, yet does not help the poor achieve that opportunity. A system, that in the end, is only for those who have money to begin with. The poor have always been considered expendable. The radicalizers know just how to work upon this despair and lack of proper education by offering their own education. An education in hatred and revenge.
But this isn't simply about poverty in our world, it's poverty in the entire world. One of the best ways to eventually eradicate radicalism is to educate as many children as possible. To teach them how to think and better themselves. How do we stop wars and create less economic immigrants? By giving them the knowledge necessary to create a new society where they live free from hopeless poverty. True, politics usually get in the way. Many countries living under a tyrant have education vetted except for the elite. Universal education in the entire world will not happen in our lifetimes, or perhaps even in our children's lifetimes, but it is the only way to bring peace. And freedom from radical hatred.
We should begin in our own homes. Make a good public education one of the priorities of every country's budget, no matter the political party. Then we won't shake our heads at the "home-grown" terrorists who kill following the only thorough education they've had, an education in hatred.
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