, 2001.
Great minds think alike. Mr. Sowell’s piece came out days after my History-major friend had been pointing out the similarity between the rise of fascism in Germany and the modern rise of Islamofascism: humiliation of a formerly great culture. Never mind that in both cases, the humiliated brought it on themselves. Rather than enter a period of introspection, both cultures identified scapegoats and commenced to killing them.
Sowell writes, “Humiliation and hate go together. Why humiliation? Because a once-proud, dynamic culture in the forefront of world civilizations, and still carrying a message of their own superiority to "infidels" today, is painfully visible to the whole world as ruling a poverty-stricken and backward region, lagging far behind in virtually every field of human endeavor. There is no way they can catch up in a hundred years, even if the rest of the world stands still. And they won't wait a hundred years to vent their resentments and frustrations at their humiliating position.
Israel's very existence as a modern, prosperous Western nation in their midst is a daily slap across the face. Nothing is easier for demagogues than to blame Israel, the United States, or Western civilization in general for their own lagging position.
Adolf Hitler was able to rouse similar resentments and fanaticism in Germany under conditions not nearly as dire as those in most Middle East countries today. The proof of similar demagogic success in the Middle East is all around.
What kind of people provide a market for videotaped beheadings of innocent hostages? What kind of people would throw an old man in a wheelchair off a cruise liner into the sea, simply because he was Jewish? Or would fly planes into buildings to vent their hate at the cost of their own lives? These are the kinds of people we are talking about getting nuclear weapons. And what of ourselves?
Do we understand that the world will never be the same after hate-filled fanatics are able to wipe whole American cities off the face of the Earth? Do we still imagine they can be bought off, as Israel was urged to buy them off with "land for peace" -- a peace that has proved to be wholly illusory?…” Read the whole piece, it is five minutes well spent understanding what we have to deal with.