ISIS jihadists, Aryan Nations white supremacists, US Marines, Arsenal supporters, Crips and Bloods, Mafia criminals, IRA militants, and die-hard fans of the Alabama Crimson Tide might seem to have nothing or very little in common. In fact, they are all manifestations of the same universal motivation and aspiration: young men searching for meaning in life. Many young men seek enthusiasm, excitement, and action– and value being part of organizations that they perceive to be in pursuit of an honorable mission. Each of the above affiliations– and others– provides a ready-made package to address that longing. All of the above groups demand devotion, loyalty, and respect for ritual. All provide association with power, a sense of accomplishment or achievement, and the assurance that whatever members do on behalf of the organization is worthy and useful.
In the wake of a terrorist incident claiming the lives of innocent persons targeted on the basis of their ascription rather than their actions, experts and ordinary news consumers alike often give voice to a fundamental and frustrating question: Why do they do this? What makes young men (and they are, overwhelmingly, young men) shoot up sidewalk cafes, blow themselves up at military checkpoints, or behead captives? How is it that they have slipped the bonds of normal human decency?
These young men have been caught up in the romance of belonging, affiliation, loyalty, and—most importantly—the glory of being part of a movement that is doing something “important.” They have gleefully abandoned the normal, ordinary drudgery of being a student, farmer, clerk, apprentice, small-time crook, or unemployed layabout and have answered the call to join the throngs of similarly inspired young men at Emirates stadium. For these zealots, Arsenal football is the strongest motivational factor in their lives.
Or they joined the U.S. Marine Corps to shout slogans in unison as they surged through the early morning mud on a basic training run. Or they reveled in the secrecy and tradecraft of collecting money from sympathizers, and finding complicated and mysterious ways to procure random weapons here and there for the IRA. Or they showed everyone in their neighborhood who was a real player by making sure all noticed the blue bandanna tucked in their back pockets. Or they justified extortion, violence, spells in prison, and mortal sin by reassuring themselves that the cosa nostra was a respectable way to engage the world. Or they painted their faces red every Saturday to demonstrate unquestioned allegiance to the Crimson Tide, and shouted themselves red repeating the sacred mantra, “Roll Tide.”
But back to the unrelenting tide of global jihadism. Who ARE those guys and why do they do this?
They are young men motivated by the dramatic and romantic appeal of inspirational videos, identifying apparel, chants, slogans, and other rituals of belonging to a rite that reminds its adherents that they are part of a much larger mission—a mission with resonance far beyond whatever their explicit role in its realization may be. Like heroes in video games, they are on a quest, and that pursuit requires nothing short of unalloyed allegiance and commitment. They are, after all, the few, the proud, the Marines.
Or they are child soldiers in African conflicts who come to believe that belonging to a mystical and murderous rebel movement is, in the end, much easier and more fun than helping their parents with subsistence farming. Or fraternity pledges at almost any U.S. university sent out on a hazing errand.
What makes these jihadists so angry and aggrieved? How can they justify what they do in the name of revenge or self-defense?
They are men who believe that their way of life has been assailed on all sides by oppressive governments, military forces, and followers of other religions. They point to the many ways in which people they claim to represent suffer, and believe that they are both the last line of defense and the point of the spear in violent offensive confrontation with the many evil forces aligned against them and determined to wipe them out. They are the true believers– the Aryan Nations.
These groups are, of course, not the same, and, clearly, there should be no attempt to establish or condone any presumption of moral equivalence between the actions of all these groups. Trying to blow up a passenger plane in midair by igniting your underwear is worse than swatting a sedentary older guy when you drunkenly miss the high-five your fellow fanatic proffers at the game. It is worse than participating in a ground battle as part of a trained military force. It is worse than a gangland revenge killing. It is worse than adoration of a grossly overpaid coach with a history of recruiting violations and laughable player graduation statistics.
Just as clear, however, are the patterns of motivation that lead young men to follow such disparate but, in many ways, similar demands on their devotion, direction, and energy. It is not to excuse those who choose violence to point out that the motivational factors that led them to that choice might have, in another set of circumstances, steered them toward a more benign outlet for their energy, aspirations, and quest for self-esteem.