Tea at Trianon: About Boomer Radicalization

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Monday, November 21, 2022

About Boomer Radicalization

From The Spectator:

Most terrorists are young men. Whether involved in far-right politics or Islamism, they tend to be recruited early. Around 10 per cent of terror arrests last year were of under-18s. Jack Renshaw, who plotted to kill MP Rosie Cooper was just 23 at the time, while a 17-year-old was convicted in 2020 for planning a ‘race war’ against synagogues in Durham. Jihadi John was in his twenties when he joined Daesh, while Shamima Begum was one of several Brits recruited to the Islamic state in their teens. Often they have flirted with non-ideological violence and been in trouble with the police.

The radicalisation of children and young people is perhaps easy to understand. Young people are impulsive and naïve. They often look for a purpose and an influence beyond their family circle, and are susceptible to the roguish charisma and simplicity preached by those at the extremes. Their families may be neglectful or distant, and they spend a lot of time on the internet, where hate and grooming fester. Those who fall into terror groups are not absolved of culpability, but their journeys are recognisable. The radicalisation of the old is a bit less intuitive. It is, however, happening. (Read more.)