Thread by @Jake_Hanrahan

I’ve been reading up on the #Nashville suicide bomber Anthony Warner. Possibly wrong here, but I think this could be kinda “post-ideological militancy” more than the 5G theory. Kind of like the 2018 Austin bomber, kind of like Sky King, kind of like Killdozer even...

What I’ve been half-heartedly calling “post-ideological militancy” is roughly pointless physical violence as a desperate response to an age of pointless abstract violence.

There does not need to be a political ideology or a crime feud behind urban guerrilla violence anymore.

Examples...

The 2018 Austin #Texas bomber, Mark Anthony Conditt, killed two people and injured several others in a series of parcel bombs. Why? This is what he said himself: “I am doing this simply because I want to watch the world burn.”

eu.usatoday.com/story/news/nat…

Conditt was later commended by the terror group ITS (who have carried out attacks but more often lie by claiming random incidents as their own). Whilst claiming “eco-extremism” as their cause, ITS basically wants to burn the world down anywhere it can too.

https://twitter.com/jake_hanrahan/status/988468906888228867

Ultimately, Conditt didn’t really have a motive. It’s easy to say “well he was crazy” (which he surely was), but there’s a reason some people are deciding to go out like this. Simply being mentally unhinged is not always an excuse. They can make purposeful decisions too.

I hesitated to mention Richard Russell (AKA Sky King) in this, as he wasn’t exactly militant and he didn’t physically hurt anyone but himself. The way he chose to commit suicide is interesting though I think. He stole a plane and went out with a bang.

Listen to his last words...

A man broken, bored, and desperate, lived a short moment of “greatness” in an otherwise uneventful life. I’m possibly wrong but I think in that sense there’s some connection to the other people mentioned.

RIP to Richard “Beebo” Russell though.

theguardian.com/world/2018/aug…

Then there’s Marvin Heemeyer. He got mugged off by the state (in my opinion) despite trying to comply with their forceful bureaucracy. They pushed him too far so he built the up-armoured “Killdozer” and went on a bloodless rampage before killing himself. allthatsinteresting.com/marvin-heemeye…

(It could be fairly argued that Heemeyer’s motivation was political because he went mad at the state, but I think the way he acted out was more a revenge against life’s constant pain inducing setbacks. He had a series of them, including the fuckry with local government.)

Now I could be connecting dots where there are none here, but I dunno. I’ve been observing this kind of violence for a while and feel there’s some kind of emerging pattern. A slow boil sure, but there are other examples too.

I find it interesting that when some people decide that enough is enough, they react into this urban combat scenario. Whether that’s because of their lifestyle or social constraints I don’t know. I think a lot of it has to do with the West’s current far away wars though.

We’re always at war but most citizens never feel any heat from the combat. I feel that our consistent barrage of consumerism coupled with the spectre of never ending wars-away-from-our-shores is mixing into something unbelievably volatile in the subconscious of thousands.

This is specifically a Western issue I think too. Other people in the world have more immediate problems. In the arrogant West™ though—where we act as if we’ve out-“civilised” the horrors within us—we tend to shrug off growing violence from “our own”.

I sound like a cringe meme, but we still often seem to react to catastrophes as if the “fringes of society” they came from are not a direct result of said SoCiEtY.

The fringes are often in the heart of suburbia now too, bubbling up in your kid’s or your neighbour’s bedrooms.

So I think this “post-ideological militancy” (if it’s even a thing mind you) could be a strange reaction to quiet but traumatic chaos in the West, that sparks only to give the “militant” command of the ever present chaos for a few moments.

https://twitter.com/CP24/status/1343683142490710016

In a world where it can feel like you’ve no control whatsoever of the constant onslaught of bullshit we’re forced to feel “normal” about, one moment of control of explosive violence on a large stage could be enough for some people to feel fulfilled. nytimes.com/2020/12/27/us/…

I’m no psychologist (no shit), but I have been incredibly invested in researching militancy for my whole career—both on the frontline and off of it. I think that all this could be something the “experts” are failing to consider.

(I’m also a deeply cynical person and have my whole life been a “doomer”, so I could have a bias there whilst looking at all of this.

Also want to add that I am in no way excusing any of the violence mentioned, I’m just trying to understand it.)

Anyway, just thought I’d share. I wanted to write a proper article on it but just don’t have the time right now.