Whether it be that sector of the Arab capitalist class that sponsors al Qaeda, or the capitalist regimes in the European Union who are devastating Greek society - they're all the same under the surface
The response of the Wall St. Journal editors said it all. On the day after the Boston Marathon bombing, they wrote: "The scenes on Boylston Street Monday - an explosion, then screams and confusion, followed by another blast and more carnage, all captured on camera -- were horrifying. And all too familiar…. Another open Western city has suffered the modern scourge on innocent civilians."
Yes, anybody with an ounce of normal human compassion would be horrified at the human suffering that occurred in Boston on that day. Just as they would at any similar scenes. But in the non Western cities, the Wall St. Journal shows no similar concerns.
Mass Murder in Pakistan
"It was Ramadan, we were about to break our fast with the children. We took a bite said our prayers. The children had just started eating when the missile struck. My two sons and I were outside, but everyone inside was killed." This is how a Pakistani father describes what happened when a US drone struck his home. The Wall St. Journal, US President Obama, and Corporate America show no similar concern for that human suffering. In fact, they are the unrepentant perpetrators.
In the US, these perpetrators will be encouraging a state of constant fear and distrust of one individual against another. In parts of Pakistan and other countries such as Yemen, the fear already exists. There, in some places drones hover overhead 24/7. Nobody knows when or where the tell-tale hiss of an incoming missile will mark the last few seconds of somebody's life - man, woman or child. The scenes from there, the Wall St. Journal doesn't find "horrifying".
Much was made in the news in the US over the fact that the Boston Marathon bomber planted two bombs, one timed to kill those who attempted to rescue victims of the first explosion. What they failed to mention is that this is a method originally invented by the US military. They call it "double taps"; US drones send one missile and then a second one a minute or two later. The second is intended to get the first responders, those who are trying to aid the victims of the first bomb. Such attacks on medics or other civilians is a war crime.
Surveillance State
In the US, the perpetrators will be using this latest act of terrorism to increase the surveillance state and repression in general. In Yemen, Pakistan and other regions of the world, they have instituted such surveillance already... and are using it for more terrorist attacks from the skies.
“Muslim Terrorists”
While admitting that there are no clues as to who carried out the Boston Marathon bombing, the Wall St. Journal editors nevertheless invoke the images of Muslim terrorists such as Faisal Shazad, who was convicted of trying to set off a bomb in Times Square in 2010. They don't bother to invoke the image of Timothy McVeigh and the bomb he set off in Oklahoma City that killed 168 people.
Shortly after the bombing, local media reported that one of the wounded was being held as a suspect. Among other things, he smelled of gunpowder. That was no evidence, as many others presumably did too. His dwelling was also raided by the FBI, but nothing suspicious was found. His real crime? He is a foreign student… from Saudi Arabia.
The internet plus the paranoia (and the racism) fostered by the corporate media has created a cottage industry of amateur "detectives". Some of these are on the web site "reddit", and they found photos of the crowd which contained pictures of Arab-looking young men. Aha! An immediate criminal! The scandal rag "New York Post" took up the hunt. Only to discover that these two guys were completely innocent of anything other than having the wrong skin color and wrong shaped nose.
Sociopathic Personality Disorder
This terrorist attack will add to the general suspicion created by such mass killings as that in the Newtown school shooting. But such killings are not confined to the United States. From suicide car bombs in Basra to the Boston Marathon, it seems that acts of wanton murder are increasingly common. We should consider the reasons, including what sort of psychology is involved.
The dictionary defines sociopathic personality disorder as “a personality disorder characterized by amorality and lack of affect; capable of violent acts without guilt feelings.” This is a description of those who are responsible for such wanton acts of murder as the Boston Marathon bombing, the Newtown school massacre, or a car bombing in Iraq. But doesn't it also describe those who are responsible for the drone attacks? In fact, let's take it one step further:
How about the destruction of entire families and entire communities from the ravages of capitalism itself? Here, usually only the threat of physical violence (arrests, etc.) are involved, but cold-blooded destruction of human lives is just as devastating. Those who are responsible - the corporate executives - have just as cold blooded a psychology. In fact, according to several studies (for instance http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-4614-6117-3_6#page-1), corporate CEO's score abnormally high on sociopathic personality tests. And what do the cold-blooded murder of civilians by drone attacks or the sponsorship of ethnic cleansing by the State of Israel demonstrate but exactly the same personalities?
In the US in 2011 there were 4,609 workplace related deaths. This mass murder is caused by the employers cutting corners on safety and then ensuring that the federal agencies responsible for enforcing workplace health and safety are underfunded. This figure absolutely dwarfs the number of deaths in the US due to terrorism. Just a day and a half after the Boston Marathon bombing there was an explosion at a fertilizer plant in Texas. the explosion was so great it registered 2.1 on the richter scale. It killed at least six, injured many more and leveled houses a far distance from the plant. But the corporate controlled media ignores this, just as they ignore this explosion that happened a day and a half after the Boston Marathon bombing.
US capitalism is no exception. Whether it be that sector of the Arab capitalist class that sponsors al Qaeda, or the capitalist regimes in the European Union who are devastating Greek society - they're all the same under the surface. Every capitalist government, and every capitalist class exhibits this same personality disorder.
According to the recently deceased Margaret Thatcher, “there is no society”. That is the view of capitalism. We should not care about anybody but ourselves and our profits. When you have a society run on the principles of the sociopathic personality, then there will always be individuals who take it to the extreme.
The problem is not that individuals, or even entire groups are sociopaths. The problem is that capitalism is a sociopathic personality disorder.
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Lal Khan is the editor of Asian Marxist Review and International Secretary of Pakistan Trade Union Defence Campaign. He can be reached at |
