(I was going to disable comments here, just because I don't crave a discussion, merely my own statement, but then I changed my mind. Not so sure there is much to say though
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I was hoping to see your perspective. I do think he is mentally ill, but not so disturbed like the Tuscon shooter, so that he is not answerable for his actions. The blame game will occur inevitably though. The Progress Party in Norway has been saying irresponsible and poisonous things for years - they are Norway's fleabaggers. They could even become the ruling party eventually, although the events of Friday will delay that for quite a while, I think. But in the short run they will get some very severe criticism for pushing the limits of debate to such a degree that created an environment where someone like Breivik thought he was justified in killing as many "Marxists" as possible.
The American expat Bruce Bawer was admired by Breivik, but Bawer is just a useless idiot who moved to Oslo more than a decade ago to be with his partner. He is gay, a full-time Islamophobe, and his middle name is Hubris. He is more extremist than most in the Progress Party, but thankfully he has no power - he just writes a LOT. He is a misguided public intellectual with an exaggerated opinion of himself. But he constantly writes incendiary commentary about how the 4% of Norway's population that is Muslim is on the verge of imposing sharia law on all of Norway, and he loathes the Norwegian Labour party and redbaits anyone who belongs to it or votes for it. He's evenly openly called for the Muslim population of Norway to be forcibly deported, although like I said, he has no power... Breivik quotes Bawer more than a dozen times in his 1500 page (!) manifesto, but in an islamophobic discussion group he calls Bawer "too paranoid" to be useful (imagine someone more paranoid than Breivik?)
I bring up Bawer not just because his writings are so poisonous, but because he and others in the European extreme right are the intellectual inspiration for someone like Breivik. The debate that will occur in Norway and likely Sweden too (Denmark is too far gone already with Pia Kjaersgaard's negative influence there) that perhaps the extreme right can be neutralized somewhat.
The scariest thing is that this sort of right wing populism is rearing its ugly head all over Europe, east and west, and over here in the US. In this globalized Weimar Period that we are experiencing, that does not bode well at all...Breivik's terrorism is symptomatic of some really ugly undercurrents.
I think he is both political and highly answerable for his actions, as they were not clinical. But of course he wasn't a normal citizen, no terrorist is. There is always something abnormal going on in those minds, and after reading extensively on his thoughts (he thinks his actions are repulsive but necessary), the patterns are very standard textbook terrorist/fanatic-activist.
Thank you SO much for filling me in on some things here, I was hoping that you'd add your extensive knowledge of various groups in a comment. I knew some of this (and yes, Denmark is way far gone, but I'm still hoping for them), but far from all.
And we seem to agree. These are the signs of our times. The Right has since long tipped the power balance quite heavily, and now we see some of the effects. The problem is, no one wants to even admit any form of connection or responsibility.
The American expat Bruce Bawer was admired by Breivik, but Bawer is just a useless idiot who moved to Oslo more than a decade ago to be with his partner. He is gay, a full-time Islamophobe, and his middle name is Hubris. He is more extremist than most in the Progress Party, but thankfully he has no power - he just writes a LOT. He is a misguided public intellectual with an exaggerated opinion of himself. But he constantly writes incendiary commentary about how the 4% of Norway's population that is Muslim is on the verge of imposing sharia law on all of Norway, and he loathes the Norwegian Labour party and redbaits anyone who belongs to it or votes for it. He's evenly openly called for the Muslim population of Norway to be forcibly deported, although like I said, he has no power... Breivik quotes Bawer more than a dozen times in his 1500 page (!) manifesto, but in an islamophobic discussion group he calls Bawer "too paranoid" to be useful (imagine someone more paranoid than Breivik?)
I bring up Bawer not just because his writings are so poisonous, but because he and others in the European extreme right are the intellectual inspiration for someone like Breivik. The debate that will occur in Norway and likely Sweden too (Denmark is too far gone already with Pia Kjaersgaard's negative influence there) that perhaps the extreme right can be neutralized somewhat.
The scariest thing is that this sort of right wing populism is rearing its ugly head all over Europe, east and west, and over here in the US. In this globalized Weimar Period that we are experiencing, that does not bode well at all...Breivik's terrorism is symptomatic of some really ugly undercurrents.
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Thank you SO much for filling me in on some things here, I was hoping that you'd add your extensive knowledge of various groups in a comment. I knew some of this (and yes, Denmark is way far gone, but I'm still hoping for them), but far from all.
And we seem to agree. These are the signs of our times. The Right has since long tipped the power balance quite heavily, and now we see some of the effects. The problem is, no one wants to even admit any form of connection or responsibility.
Reply
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