An Attack Against Politics and Democracy
 An Attack Against Politics and Democracy The recent chain of multiple terrorist attacks in the United States will cause a radical change in global politics. From now on, the exceptions will become the rule -all of us can become victims at this point, we are all suspects. Consequentially, there will be a large social consensus in favour of preventive repression, social control and reprisals in and outside of the Law. These attacks answer the various questions concerning terrorism. Politics, understood as an activity to change reality, has lost its primary function throughout the last decades. Doing politics entailed convincing, planning, governing and even manipulating and lying for the purpose of reaching economic objectives and establishing other models of social organisation. Meanwhile, there were solutions for those who sought social support. Politics had to depend on the people. In democratic societies politics has become a form of 'marketing': citizens were important for votes, but governing powers and even the political parties do not want them to act in excess. In societies that are governed by authoritarian leaders and structures, the people are either used to offer unconditional adhesion or are else considered to be the enemy. In this framework, politics has lost its influence while at the same time has become even more so spectacular, due to the need of identifying politics and the media; big podiums, expensive campaigns, big bombs. To create an impact, it no longer suffices to rely on political speeches. One has to act upon immediate decision, especially against the enemies. This social immobilisation has been accompanied by the ascension of personal politics. The irregular or spontaneous use of violence always had a propagandistic mission. The manuals of guerrilla forces during the 1960's liberation movements throughout the Third World invoked the use of force against enemies for the purpose of mobilising society. The selective use of force was, according the theory, an educational tool for oppressed societies. Modern-day terrorism does not seek organised social mobilisation for predetermined causes, nor is it interested in winning the hearts and minds of possible allies. The result is that contradictions between social projects become eliminated. It is now all about hitting hard, waiting for the opponents reactions and hitting hard again. This provokes a deadly and perverse game between elites, since the terrorists attack without taking the people into consideration; state powers often respond arbitrarily, making themselves stronger in the easy discourse of repression. These attacks demonstrate that one or various groups, possibly of the Islamic world, have lost control of their actions. The terrorists kill innocent people, destroy infrastructure and push towards creating more violence and less dialogue -be it in the Middle East or in other parts of the world. Additionally, they open the door to the possibility of Israel and the United States not only not changing their conservative policies in the Middle East, but also fortifying their position and radically responding in different spheres. This could imply: Sharon will cease to negotiate, Bush will develop his anti-missile programme and a repression against the anti-globalisation movement throughout the world. In this way, the vicious cycle of violence in the streets of Palestine and Israel are projected globally. It is quite possible that throughout the next days Washington will carry out one or more attacks with the purpose of demonstrating its military strength. But additionally, from this point on, we have entered a new phase in the history of social control and suspicion above all citizens, especially in certain countries. Privacy and the movement will remain below the interests of the State of immobility. Just like the experience of terrorist attacks in other contexts - like those committed by ETA in Spain - the end result is that the objectives that are pursued by their authors are further pushed into the impossibility of realisation. The crimes that were recently committed in the United States are unjustifiable in themselves, they burry the chances for peace in situations like the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. The terrorist attacks tempt authoritarianism and destroys democratic politics as a way of life. Copyright 2001 El correo digital |
