Bleeding Edge, pp. 312-313

[David Morris]

I think you can make distinctions between the manipulators and the
manipulated.  Both want power, but only one of the two HAS power.

David Morris

On Mon, Nov 16, 2015 at 12:45 PM, <kelber at mindspring.com> wrote:

> It's way too easy to write these guys off as losers who can't get laid.
> Hey, I've known plenty of people who've never had a serious relationship,
> and rarely, if ever have gotten laid. They channel their frustration into
> obsessions with art, film, music. You know the type. Should we start
> pointing fingers at anyone who hasn't been in a relationship?
>
> That Guardian article Mark posted makes it clear: ISIS attracts many
> people with solid people skills, who, in turn are able to spend hours and
> hours on line, luring others (girls as well as boys) into the movement. Few
> losers-who-can't-get-laid have that amount of social finesse. And a big
> selling point is the trading of a humdrum life for the romance of fighting
> and/or dying for the "cause." Sure, it's easier to lure in the mentally
> ill, the lonely, the broke. But their ability to lure in romantics and
> idealists, and skew their world-view so much that the death of innocents -
> even little Muslim kids - becomes lost in the swell of glory of the cause,
> well, that's the truly scary part.
>
> It emphasizes the stupidity of cracking down on the Occupy encampments -
> they provided a solid grounding point for restless romantics. We need more
> of that.
>
> Laura
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://waste.org/pipermail/pynchon-l/attachments/20151116/bd962fbb/attachment.html>