Originally posted by Riwka
Therefore, I think it is necessary to look who (which groups) organized the protests.
Thank you Riwka. Finally some rational thought in the discussion. The thread was on it's way to become a seething pile of bigoted responses.
No doubt these rioters are not the sharpest tools in the shed, their violent actions are on the deep end of the bigoted spectrum. The key difference
between their actions and some of the bigoted remarks I've seen by some members is that they are acting upon their prejudice. But essentially the
level of hate is the same. I wonder when people will realise that hate feeds upon itself.
The thing is there will always be leaders and there will always be sheeple. The sheeple are essentially easy to manipulate. With the right propaganda
and rhetoric, any charismatic person can start an angry mob and lead them on a path to destruction.
These riots you see only happen in scattered pockets of the muslim world, but I've noticed several patterns so far. Tentatively I'm gonna go with
the following list of what I believe to be factors that can lead to it. It's in order of what I believe to be most important to the least
important.
- Poor economic conditions - so people are generally unhappy to begin with
- Government hanging on to power and so is reluctant to quell disturbance, fearing they will lose what little support they have
- Fundamentalist and militant opposition groups seizing the opportunity to destabilise the current government
- Education standards are low - so the sheeple are more easily influenced
What do you think? Basically this is what I think -- social unrest is already formenting in these areas. The cartoons, fake or otherwise were seized
upon by radical elements within the regions to garner support for their cause. The governments of these countries are somewhat reluctant to persecute
anyone because they fear they might lose the support they have from the people.
Note, this is just a theory. In regards to Pakistan I have found news reports that support my theory.
Hidden Motives Behind Cartoon Riots
Blasphemous Cartoons Eroding the West's Goodwill: President
However I can't find any similiar news for Libya or Nigeria. In fact, perusing through Nigerian and Libyan dailies, I couldn't even find any mention
of riots! This is either because of local censors or the western media amplified the actual events. I believe the truth lies somewhere in the middle.
