Lessons and Warnings

There are riots in France and riots in Argentina. The rioters in France are largely Muslim, the rioters in Argentina are largely Catholic. The root cause is the same and it's not religion it's economics. In both cases the rioters are people who have been excluded from the economic wealth of their respective societies. There is a lesson and and serious warning here for those fighting the "war on terror" while pushing world domination by large multi-nation corporations. There is also a warning here for those same people who are attempting to undo the New Deal. It was a lesson that should have been learned from the French Revolution but was not.

The danger of undoing The New Deal

While the conservative oligarchs in the United States have been cursing the "socialism" of The New Deal it is the only reason they figuratively still have their heads. The reason communism didn't take hold in the United States, and Western Europe, was because it wasn't necessary. The anti communist rhetoric and scare tactics were only successful because a majority of the citizens were actually sharing the wealth of the nation already. This was the case because of those much maligned labor unions and The New Deal. This sharing of wealth also made possible the growth of corporations both large and small. In order for a company to grow it needs customers with disposable income. The incredible capitalistic growth of the US economy was actually made possible because of limited socialism. And the warning to Republicans: how long before the majority of Americans realize they are not sharing the wealth like they used to? Another lesson for the leadership of the United States today comes from the French Revolution. Louis XVI had many foreign adventures, including involvement in America's revolutionary war. The burden of these adventures fell on the minority leading to the French Revolution. If that sounds familiar it should. That's similar to what we are seeing with the war in Iraq.

The fruits of economic imperialism

Before we address the war on terror, Iraq and the unrest and South America let's return to Vietnam. The war in Vietnam was sold as a war against communism but that's misleading. The conflict began as a war against generations of French imperialism. As part of the overall ideological battle between the west and the east the conflict was supported by the Soviet Union and China but as far as the Vietnamese participants were concerned it remained a battle against western colonial imperialism. That is why the US was never able to win the hearts and minds of the vast majority of the South Vietnamese. We are seeing a similar reaction in Iraq. The majority of Iraqis consider the US occupation of Iraq economic imperialism. The different ethnic and religious groups have one thing in common, they consider the US to be an invader interested in nothing but oil and control of their economy. Like Vietnam it will be impossible to win their hearts and minds. In South and Central America we have not invaded with overt military force, only economically. Following that invasion a majority of the citizens of that region found themselves to be worse off then they were before as the wealth of their nations went north.

France and the war on terror

The problems in France and the terrorists attacking the western world may all be Muslim but in reality it is an economic rather that a religious war. Like the communists in Vietnam the radical Islamic extremists are taking advantage of economic discontent. While the leaders may be carrying out a holy jihad the soldiers fighting the war are do so out of a sense of economic hopelessness. Many of the suicide bombers attacking Israel did so because of the cash payments to their families. It was one of the few ways available to them to see to the welfare of their families. The war on terror cannot be won by "fighting them there" but only by addressing the root problem which is poverty and the distribution of wealth. Those on the right are quick to make the riots in France a jihad and in fact even some moderates are falling into that trap.

What the reportage dances around in almost all of the articles I have seen is that the rioters are Muslims. Instead, the phraseology is "youths" or "marauding youths," and "immigrants," from "neighborhoods with large African and Muslim populations." If you get that much. But the media doesn't seem to want to actually come out and say that these "non-spontaneous, organized gangs" of rioters are Muslims.

Could it be that the disenfranchised immigrants from Africa just happen to be Muslim? The quickest way to make it a holy war is to start calling it one. If this attitude persists the war on terror is going to be a long one and if we identify all Muslims as the enemy it's a war the west will lose. Why you ask? Because there are a lot more of "them" than there are of "us".