Destructive Ideas
Posted: Mon Feb 19, 2007 4:19 pm
Someone recently commented that gunpowder was invented over a thousand years ago, it was first used in Europe around the fourteenth century, and more sophisticated explosives like TNT have been available since the nineteenth century. So it would have been possible for hundreds of years in the past, for people to purposely blow themselves up for military or political reasons. Yet the fact is that few people, if any, chose to destroy themselves in that way until the ninth decade of the twentieth century, and only within the last seven years has much of this sort of activity occurred. Now, of course, hardly a day goes by without there being something on the news about an individual who has decided to push his own personal launch button.
In a rather similar way, various lethal gases were first developed in the nineteenth century, and mustard gas and other toxic gases were used in the First World War. These substances are relatively easy to make, and many types of them have now been developed. So, it can be considered that it was feasible, as early as the 1920's, for private individuals or organizations to produce and use poisonous gases, for whatever their purposes might be. But, to my knowledge, the first (and, to date, only) attack by nongovernmental persons or organizations, using poisonous gas, was the 1995 attack in the Tokyo subway system by the Aum Shinrikyo sect.
Also, commercial aircraft service began in the 1920's, and the total number of commercial flights which had been made, worldwide, must have been in the millions by the year 1960. Yet there had been only a few sporadic hijackings until the 1960's, when the practice of hijacking aircraft to Cuba became common. Since then, of course, there have been many hijackings or attempted hijackings, including those on 11 September 2001, and the measures which have been necessary to prevent air piracy, have affected every air traveler.
What seems noteworthy is, that these three things--people blowing themselves up, attacks by private individuals using poison gas, and aircraft hijacking--would all have been possible a long time before people actually went and did them. And, in retrospect, the possiblity of doing these things must have been pretty obvious for years or even centuries before people went ahead and embarked on those activities. None of them are really all that difficult. So it seems certain that these types of destructive things were thought of, long before the first individuals did them.
Of course, this raises the interesting question of why it took so long before people finally decided to start blowing themselves up, before private individuals elected to use poison gas, and before aircraft hijackings became common. Is it simply a matter of people having to accustom themselves, perhaps for years, to the idea of doing something which hasn't been done previously, before they actually go and do it? Or do people have some kind of innate sense or propriety or appropriateness which keeps them from doing something extreme--but, then, at some point, they snap and decide to go ahead and do the wrong thing anyway. Then, after the deed has been accomplished, perhaps others think that the ice has been broken, so to speak, and they can go ahead and do it, too.
In a rather similar way, various lethal gases were first developed in the nineteenth century, and mustard gas and other toxic gases were used in the First World War. These substances are relatively easy to make, and many types of them have now been developed. So, it can be considered that it was feasible, as early as the 1920's, for private individuals or organizations to produce and use poisonous gases, for whatever their purposes might be. But, to my knowledge, the first (and, to date, only) attack by nongovernmental persons or organizations, using poisonous gas, was the 1995 attack in the Tokyo subway system by the Aum Shinrikyo sect.
Also, commercial aircraft service began in the 1920's, and the total number of commercial flights which had been made, worldwide, must have been in the millions by the year 1960. Yet there had been only a few sporadic hijackings until the 1960's, when the practice of hijacking aircraft to Cuba became common. Since then, of course, there have been many hijackings or attempted hijackings, including those on 11 September 2001, and the measures which have been necessary to prevent air piracy, have affected every air traveler.
What seems noteworthy is, that these three things--people blowing themselves up, attacks by private individuals using poison gas, and aircraft hijacking--would all have been possible a long time before people actually went and did them. And, in retrospect, the possiblity of doing these things must have been pretty obvious for years or even centuries before people went ahead and embarked on those activities. None of them are really all that difficult. So it seems certain that these types of destructive things were thought of, long before the first individuals did them.
Of course, this raises the interesting question of why it took so long before people finally decided to start blowing themselves up, before private individuals elected to use poison gas, and before aircraft hijackings became common. Is it simply a matter of people having to accustom themselves, perhaps for years, to the idea of doing something which hasn't been done previously, before they actually go and do it? Or do people have some kind of innate sense or propriety or appropriateness which keeps them from doing something extreme--but, then, at some point, they snap and decide to go ahead and do the wrong thing anyway. Then, after the deed has been accomplished, perhaps others think that the ice has been broken, so to speak, and they can go ahead and do it, too.