Antidotes to Terrorism?

One of the most disturbing realities of living in 21st century society is the presence of terrorism. Our governments currently wrestle with legislation and national security measures in order to “combat terrorism”, using methods and language that appear to stem from terrorism itself. What is there that we can do as individuals to help reduce it in a humane, life sustaining way? How can living and working sustainably help us to find  solutions to terrorism?

In the Industrial Growth Society, one of the assumptions we live by is that humans are primarily consumers. Our importance in society then rests on how good we are at acquiring material wealth and the big consumers are seen as more successful than the smaller ones. It is this attitude of competition rather than cooperation that has led to increasing unevenness in the distribution of the world’s wealth, not just between nations and geographical areas, but often within wealthy societies. In nations such as India, the United States and Brazil, you can see extreme wealth existing side by side with the most extreme poverty. Within such out-of-balance societies, you can expect to see high crime rates, family breakdown, civil unrest, a sense of despair and domestic violence, for example.

It is this extreme form of inequality that gives the impression that “globalization” means simply the colonization of the poor by the wealthy capitalist. This leads to humiliation and rage and fuels the hatred of terrorists who both envy and fear the wealthy in developed nations. Ignoring these inequalities and perpetuating our narrow, consumerism based view of wealth has led to the violent reaction we see against capitalism and to the hatred that fuels anti capitalist and anti-Western terrorism..

We need a concept of wealth that encompasses much more than just material capital or money.  This is where sustainable living and sustainable business become essential. We need a concept of wealth that enriches rather than impoverishes the human spirit,  that inspires people to give of their best in creating it, that springs from a responsible and compassionate inclusion of the less well off and from a committed resolve to meet basic human needs. In our business lives, we also need a notion of wealth that reflects meaningful and fulfilling personal and working lives.

Where does the anger and the hatred that fuel terrorism originate? What terrorists seem to have in common is their feelings of being overlooked or excluded by society. Their need for self-esteem is threatened or frustrated and they want to lash out with a claim that their existence (cause, values, beliefs) be recognised. Indeed, frustration or fear of one sort or another underlies most anger: love or loyalty that has not been requited, worth that has not been valued, a point of view that has not been heard, a self that has been rejected, denied or left out. As a business strategy, anger leads to finding some way to beat, destroy or damage the competition, even when cooperation might have led to a better result.

This idea is not new. Rewind thousands of years and you will find stories that can yield a message that we can relate to now and that makes perfect sense in the 21st Century. For this reason, I love to read parables from ancient spiritual texts and one of my favourites is “The Buddha and the Terrorist” by Satish Kumar.

The main character in this tale is Angulimala who is a serial killer. He terrorises his fellow villagers by ambushing and killing his victims, chopping off their fingers and stringing them around his neck in a gruesome and bloody necklace. His unusual encounter with the Buddha leads not to the death of the Buddha but incredibly to Angulimala’s reformation and enlightenment due to the kindness and compassion of the Buddha. Whilst the Buddha accepts Angulimala into spiritual service, the villagers seek revenge and want him punished for his awful deeds. However, when Angulimala is finally put on trial, they come to understand that putting Angulimala to death will not bring back their loved ones.

There are useful messages for us living in the 21st century, especially in our current political climate:

□ There is an alternative to punishment and revenge.
□ We need to address the social and environmental issues underlying terrorism.

Conclusion.

On a personal level, by adopting attitudes of sustainable living (compassion, generosity, inclusion, cooperation, non-violence etc) we can do our bit to temper fear, anger and hatred in ourselves and those around us.

On the level of our community and society, the sustainable values of mutuality. consensus and equality are worth giving serious attention to as an antidote to terrorism.

Suggested Further Reading

The Buddha and the Terrorist – Satish Kumar

Satish Kumar is Editor of Resurgence (www.resurgence.org)  magazine and Director of Programmes at Schumacher College (www.schumachercollege.org.uk) .

He is the author of two other books: “No Destination: An Autobiography” and “You Are, Therefore I am: A Declaration of Dependence.”