Would-be terrorists suck at life
From Foreign Policy:
There seems to be a pattern of mediocre sons from elite families becoming terrorists.
Osama bin Laden’s dad was a wildly succesful contractor with close ties to Saudi royalty. Underpants bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab’s father was a prominent Nigerian banker and one of the wealthiest men in Africa. Perhaps they feel like failures next to their successful dads, and militancy offers a pathway toward self-respect.
Shazad was a successful consultant who owned a pretty sweet house in Connecticut apparently. I’m not sure that’s sucking at life. The terrorism seemed to sabotage an otherwise successful life it seems in his case.Report
@Michael Drew, His life appears to have fallen apart in the last few years. He lost his house to the bank.
It certainly makes some sense that people who are screwing up life would be drawn to something that would give them power and succsess.Report
@greginak, Interesting, thanks. Hadn’t read about a foreclosure (if that’s what it was) yet. Now there’s an interesting potential confluence of mega-meta-stories for you. Huge, really, if it turned out to be more or less that simple.Report
He lost his house because he quit his job and stopped paying his mortgage to move back to Pakistan.Report
Maybe being a bourgeois revolutionary knows know ideological/religious boundaries?Report
@Kyle,
knows “no.” whoops.Report