No Evidence Poverty Causes Terrorism

[Toro]

There is no systematic statistical evidence that poverty is the driving reason behind terrorism. It may be one reason, but it does not appear to be the main reason.

When Princeton economist Alan Krueger saw reports that seven of eight people arrested in the unsuccessful car bombings in Britain were doctors, he wasn't shocked. He wasn't even surprised.

"Each time we have one of these attacks and the backgrounds of the attackers are revealed, this should put to rest the myth that terrorists are attacking us because they are desperately poor," he says. "But this misconception doesn't die." ...

"As a group, terrorists are better educated and from wealthier families than the typical person in the same age group in the societies from which they originate," Mr. Krueger said at the London School of Economics last year in a lecture soon to be published as a book, "What Makes a Terrorist?"

"There is no evidence of a general tendency for impoverished or uneducated people to be more likely to support terrorism or join terrorist organizations than their higher-income, better-educated countrymen," he said. ...

• Backgrounds of 148 Palestinian suicide bombers show they were less likely to come from families living in poverty and were more likely to have finished high school than the general population. Biographies of 129 Hezbollah shahids (martyrs) reveal they, too, are less likely to be from poor families than the Lebanese population from which they come. The same goes for available data about an Israeli terrorist organization, Gush Emunim, active in the 1980s.

• Terrorism doesn't increase in the Middle East when economic conditions worsen; indeed, there seems no link. One study finds the number of terrorist incidents is actually higher in countries that spend more on social-welfare programs. Slicing and dicing data finds no discernible pattern that countries that are poorer or more illiterate produce more terrorists. Examining 781 terrorist events classified by the U.S. State Department as "significant" reveals terrorists tend to come from countries distinguished by political oppression, not poverty or inequality.

• Public-opinion polls from Jordan, Morocco, Pakistan and Turkey find people with more education are more likely to say suicide attacks against Westerners in Iraq are justified. Polls of Palestinians find no clear difference in support for terrorism as a means to achieve political ends between the most and least educated. ...

WSJ

 

[Care4all]

This was in the article too though...

Data on which all this relies are hardly perfect: Terrorists don't fill out elaborate questionnaires.

Better-off, better-educated individuals could be motivated if not by their own circumstances, then by the conditions of their impoverished countrymen.

Interviews of terrorists in Pakistan by Harvard terrorism scholar Jessica Stern reveal recruiters there found the poorest neighborhoods to be the most fertile ground, particularly among those who feel Muslims are humiliated by the West.


She says Mr. Krueger and like-minded scholars don't yet have enough evidence to prove anything. "We are only just beginning to do really serious large studies in terrorism," she says.

Anyway, it could be a combination of both theories, they may intertwine with one another, that oppressive governments creates terrorists and poverty creates terrorism???

Krueger is saying oppressive gvts creates it, I think?

 

[Larkinn]

This was in the article too though...

Anyway, it could be a combination of both theories, they may intertwine with one another, that oppressive governments creates terrorists and poverty creates terrorism???

Krueger is saying oppressive gvts creates it, I think?

I think that poverty is an aspect of it, but its certainly not the main cause. This has been known for a while that most terrorists are not impoverished, rather they come from middle class backgrounds. But in some sense this makes sense...after all those who are desperately poor can't afford to blow themselves up...then their families would starve or be left without a breadwinner.

I think its caused by a myriad of issues and an interesting intertwining of several factors. I think that poverty is one of those factors, but its the poverty of the people around you, not your own poverty. But it is certainly not the defining factor I would say.

 

[Vintij]

Poverty does not cause terrorism. Africa is one giant povertic continent with almost zero terrorist threat.

Its oppression that causes poverty that causes terrorism. More of a system or a cycle.

Oppression in the education system is the number one cause. Combining religion with education at a young age will almost certainly mold a future religious extremist. Education is the hidden cause, in the middle east they teach young kids in school that "allah" will love them if they kill themselves and take out "zionists" at the same time. They even have cartoons. So you see, education is a very very powerfull thing. Thats why christianity or creationism, must never ever be included in school curriculum. Its too potentially dangerous, because eventually you have not only creationism, but scientology, buddism, islam....all included in school curriculum, which manifests itself into religious segregation between kids, as well as a potential rise of any wannabe religious cult, claiming they are a religion and wanting a piece of education themselves.

 

[Larkinn]

Poverty does not cause terrorism. Africa is one giant povertic continent with almost zero terrorist threat.

Its oppression that causes poverty that causes terrorism. More of a system or a cycle.

Oppression in the education system is the number one cause. Combining religion with education at a young age will almost certainly mold a future religious extremist. Education is the hidden cause, in the middle east they teach young kids in school that "allah" will love them if they kill themselves and take out "zionists" at the same time. They even have cartoons. So you see, education is a very very powerfull thing. Thats why christianity or creationism, must never ever be included in school curriculum. Its too dangerous.

I don't think its just that either...one of the interesting things happening lately is that some of these people were brought up in Europe...trained in Europe...were influenced by European thought.

I read a book a while back which attempted to give a reason for it. It looked in depth at Theo Van Gogh, the film maker who was assassinated in Amsterdam. The authori hypothesized at the end that what caused it was a lack of identity. In Europe a lot of immigrants go there and form what are called dish cities...basically like a Morocco town...but where everyone has a satellite dish and they all watch news from their home country. This is problematic becuase the kids are half raised in that culture, half in the European culture and they lose a sense of identity. They want western things and such, but their parents pressure them to follow the old traditions...and they are also rejected by the white populations. One cause of this terrorism in Europe thing and why it is not so bad in the US is that there is a LOT of racism against people from Africa and the ME there....and it is more systematic than here. So it is harder for immigrants to move there and really fit in...and the kids feel lost between two different worlds.

That is the explanation that I've found that I like the best...but it is a tricky subject and will not be a one solution fits all terrorists type of thing. Different people do it for different reasons...

 

[DeadCanDance]

No Evidence Poverty Causes Terrorism

If you're talking about muslim jihaddits, there's no mystery what causes terrorism. It's well known. If you don't watch Fox News, and actually seek information on this subject, its out there. The CIA knows exactly what causes the terrorism. Its been published in their reports. GOP prez candidate Ron Paul had the bravery to mention it in a GOP debate.

There is an ambient level of rage in parts the arab world at the west, because of the perception that they are, and have been, under attack militarily, and because they live under the boot of authoritarian arab apostate dictators, largely supported by the west. They blame the west for supporting and keeping these rulers in power.

 

[red states rule]

I think that poverty is an aspect of it, but its certainly not the main cause. This has been known for a while that most terrorists are not impoverished, rather they come from middle class backgrounds. But in some sense this makes sense...after all those who are desperately poor can't afford to blow themselves up...then their families would starve or be left without a breadwinner.

I think its caused by a myriad of issues and an interesting intertwining of several factors. I think that poverty is one of those factors, but its the poverty of the people around you, not your own poverty. But it is certainly not the defining factor I would say.

the 9-11 hijackers from oil rich Saudi Arabia

Doctors in the UK trying to blow up airports

Tell us again how poverty causes terrorism?