Terrorism in the "Golden Era"

[Professor]

An example of how the past had its own problems, not all that different from our own...
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128216755
"We like to think of those days as innocent, softened by the selective memory of nostalgia, but prewar New York City was perhaps as dangerous then as it is today when it comes to acts of terrorism."

 

[dhermann1]

If you read Barbara Tuchman's "The Proud Tower", about Europe in the years leading up to WW I, you'll see how those quaint "bomb throwing anarchists" that we think of as so cute today, were the direct forebears of today's terrorists. And in the long run, like modern terrorists, they had virtually no effect on the flow of world events.

 

[Chas]

This thread was born "teetering on the edge". One man's terrorist is another man's patriot; and politics being taboo, I'm sure the mods will step in pretty quick here.

Gavrilo Princip was certainly be regarded by many as a terrorist, but to the Serbs as a national hero.

So it goes.

 

[Professor]

This thread was born "teetering on the edge". One man's terrorist is another man's patriot; and politics being taboo, I'm sure the mods will step in pretty quick here.

Pardon, where do you see a political slant? It's an historic account of an event at the World's Fair.

 

[Mav]

This thread was born "teetering on the edge". One man's terrorist is another man's patriot; and politics being taboo, I'm sure the mods will step in pretty quick here.

Indeed. Until that time, though, let us engage in a political and moral debate that is rarely acceptable in this neo- post- modern world. Particularly in a setting where the scoring of great suits on ebay is the pinnacle of intellectual discussion.
Cries of "one man's terrorist is another man's patriot" is codswallop, and is roughly equivalent to "all opinions are equally valid."
There is a huge line between the killing of innocents and legit guerrilla action. And "legit" is emphatically not in the eye of the beholder, unless we wish to plunge to the dark depths of moral relativism.

 

[Chas]

Pirates and Emperors, gentlemen. State-sponsored terrorism or urban guerillas? When anyone other than a "friendly" state does what Israel does, we call it an outrage. If someone like, say, the Serbs shell, bomb and mortar civilians, NATO gets involved. Israel, on the other hand, gets a blank check.

What the Israelis are doing to the people in Gaza is pure terrorism. If you weigh the loss of life in Israel to a few homemade rockets against what the Israeli military has done, how does that escape mention as terrorism?

This man did what he did because "the good guys" didn't leave him any other choice.

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[Creeping Past]

were the direct forebears of today's terrorists. And in the long run, like modern terrorists, they had virtually no effect on the flow of world events.

I'd like to dispute both these assertions, but I can't due to forum rules...

 

[Professor]

This man did what he did because "the good guys" didn't leave him any other choice.

I'm disappointed you felt it necessary to turn this thread into something political. Might I point out, motivation for the bombing at the World's Fair was not given.

 

[Feraud]

Particularly in a setting where the scoring of great suits on ebay is the pinnacle of intellectual discussion.

Actually the pinnacle of intellectual discussion is more what makes a great suit rather the scoring of a suit..

 

[Professor]

I'd like to dispute both these assertions, but I can't due to forum rules...

I have to agree, seems to me the Great War would fall into this category.