Islamism as the new Communism: Both offer an illusory hope of a paradise to come for dissatisfied people

Excerpt below from an article by Tanveer Ahmed, a Bangladeshi psychiatrist living in Sydney:

The 20th century saw the demise of communism, despite its attraction to millions of people who felt poor or downtrodden. It was exposed as a totalitarian system that stifled the aspirations of man. But its stain is spreading within the casing of Islamic fundamentalism. This does not seem obvious, especially considering Osama bin Laden himself was instrumental in defeating the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan more than two decades ago. And the Iranian revolution of 1979 was in part a reaction to the perceived godlessness of communism knocking at its doorstep. This was mimicked to a lesser degree throughout the Middle East, from Egypt to Jordan.

But the old Marxists are extending their influence in many of the Islamic political parties that are rapidly rising in popularity, in response to inept, autocratic Arab governments. Arab governments have closed off opportunity to such an extent that secular forces such as communism or liberalism have minimal outlets. One of the few places for a political voice is at the mosque and through religion. Religion provides the cloak for what is essentially politics.

As a result, political Islam is on the rise throughout the Arab world. The first municipal election in Saudi Arabia delivered wins for Islamic parties and, of course, there was the election of Hamas by the Palestinians. Many of the leaders representing political Islam have previous ties to Arab socialism. This is particularly true in Egypt, where the Muslim Brotherhood won one-fifth of the vote in elections last year. Veteran foreign correspondent Mary Ann Weaver writes in her book A Portrait of Egypt: "A number of my former professors from the American University of Cairo were Marxists 20 years ago: fairly adamant, fairly doctrinaire Marxists. They are now equally adamant, equally doctrinaire Islamists." The developments in Egypt are potent for it has long been a leader in the region.

The similarities of communism and Islam are considerable. Both are egalitarian and advocate radical economic change. They both demand a domination of the public space and share a dogmatic, ideological view of the world. Political Islam is also supplying the social services in a collective context that communism promised, and the status of groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah depends on this. Their facilities are often described by locals as superior to those provided by the ruling governments.

Islam also promises to deliver the poor masses from oppression, but there is a difference: instead of the working class rising up against the bourgeoisie, the uprising to be encouraged is by hapless, impoverished Muslims against their oppressive Western masters or puppet Arab leaders. And like communism, Islam believes the collective must be preserved at the expense of the individual. We are social beings first, individuals second. Like communism, Islamism promises a better life for the poor, oppressed and alienated. It is cloaked in God, but its essence is strongly secular. Unless the West fights the war of ideas at this level, offering a competing vision of morality as well as economics and technology, the lure of Islamic extremism will continue to flourish.

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Brookes News Update

US economy, war and manufacturing: When Japan attacked the US in 1941 she awakened a sleeping economic giant. Let us hope that 2041 will not see an attack that will destroy what remains of what was once the envy of the world
The Australian economy is showing marked signs of recession: The Reserve Bank's loose monetary policy has wreaked havoc on Australia's manufacturing base and is driving the Australian economy into recession. This has resulted in renewed calls for an industry policy
Australian economy: Employers' groups cave in on the minimum wage: Why is it that employers' group fail to put up convincing argument against minimum wages? This article explains the problem and the nature of the effective minimum wage
Muslim bigot smears Australians: Waleed Aly, executive committee member of the Islamic Council of Victoria, thinks Australians are bigots. However, his refusal to condemn Hezbollah's terrorism and his role in the persecution of two Christian pastors tells us who the real bigot is
The Islamic deception: Islamic regimes have been responsible for major human rights violations, especially against religious minority groups and women. Even some Muslims openly admit the religion has a history of violence
Israel's war against Hezbollah must not be in vain: Since the Israel's withdrawal from Gaza it has become a launching pad for various Arab terror groups. Over 1,000 rockets and an uncountable number of mortar shells were fired toward Israel
The Melbourne Age peddles terrorist propaganda: The media's outrageous pro-terrorist reporting of the Qana bombing reminds me of another phony massacre our truth-loving journos tried to frame Israel for - Jenin
Castro and the ACLU v Miami's Book 'Ban': A Castro supporter wrote a children's school book titled Let's Go to Cuba. It depicts Castro's fiefdom as a paradise on earth. Parents complained about their children being fed Stalinist propaganda. So the ACLU did what it always does - it sided with the tyrant, telling parents they should shut up and take it
The US should lift the embargo if Castro is dead: Lifting sanctions would also have the very satisfying effect of stifling the protests of Castro's coke-snorting Hollywood friends and would expose as hypocrites moral poseurs like Ed Asner, Oliver Stone and Danny Glover

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ELSEWHERE



If you like music videos, there is an Israeli one here with some good comments about the Lebanon situation.

Scott Burgess is still capable of outrage at the way the Western Left suck up to the Islamofascists. He draws attention to a particularly egregious example of it in Australia.

The latest post on Strange Justice draws attention to the utter incompetence of Britain's new politically correct police force.

Les Bates is rejoicing in the death of a cyclist. I must say that many of them do seem to be egomaniacs. I said as much to a man who manufactures specialist cyclist clothing once. He said: "Yes. It's great. They only want the best and I charge accordingly".

For more postings, see TONGUE-TIED, EDUCATION WATCH, GREENIE WATCH, POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH, FOOD & HEALTH SKEPTIC, GUN WATCH, SOCIALIZED MEDICINE and AUSTRALIAN POLITICS. (Mirror sites here, here, here, here, here, here and here).

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"All the worth which the human being possesses, all spiritual reality, he possesses only through the State." -- 19th century German philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel. Hegel is the most influential philosopher of the Left -- inspiring Karl Marx, the American "Progressives" of the early 20th century and university socialists to this day.

The Big Lie of the late 20th century was that Nazism was Rightist. It was in fact typical of the Leftism of its day. It was only to the Right of Stalin's Communism. The very word "Nazi" is a German abbreviation for "National Socialist" (Nationalsozialistisch)

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