Baudrillard talks of terrorism beyond the parameters it is usually discussed in. You won’t find much mention of political or historical specificity or attempts to find causation or “meaning” in terrorism. For him, it is beyond a theory of “clash of civilizations,” beyond discussions of Good & Evil. Terrorism is meaningless, it is the extreme event, attempt, of those outside global power to humiliate by refusing to act in a way that can be logically understood. Terrorism is not “real” & therein lies its power & detriment – It is worse than real, “it is symbolic.”

I found his discussion on the spectacle of terrorism particularly interesting. How these deaths from the brutal act, the whole reality & brutality of the current system enters into some kind of system of spectacular exchange. “The media are part of the event, they are part of the terror,” ⠀⠀⠀

Some quotes that I felt really encapsulated things: ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀

“When global power monopolizes the situation to this extent, when there is such a formidable condensation of all functions in the technocratic machinery, and when no alternative form of thinking is allowed, what other way is there but a terroristic situational transfer? It was the system itself which created the objective conditions for this brutal retaliation. By seizing all the cards for itself, it forced the Other to change the rules. And the new rules are fierce ones, because the stakes are fierce. To a system whose very excess of power poses an insoluble challenge, the terrorists respond with a definitive act which is also not susceptible of exchange.”

"This is not, then, a clash of civilizations of religions, and it reaches far beyond Islam and America, on which efforts are being made to focus the conflict in order to create the delusion of a visible confrontation and a solution based on force. There is, indeed, a fundamental antagonism here, but one which points past the spectre of America (which is, perhaps, the epicentre, but in no sense the sole embodiment, of globalization) and the spectre of Islam (which is not the embodiment of terrorism either), to triumphant globalization battling against itself.”

Is there a way to review this collection without drowning in the political?
Without getting too close and accidentally scratching off the never-healing scab of The Event?
I sense that much has been said on both sides (with much emotion) regarding Baudrillard's writings on 9/11 and terrorism in general.

Without drowning in equivocation or knotty explanations of my own thoughts on the topic let me say this:

- This is a short and (for the most part) clearly written work that tries to bring some balanced thought to the unavoidably antagonistic relationship between globalization (as he defines it) and cultural specification (i.e., those still resisting and still outside of the globalized political/economic/power network). The unfortunate shorthand of which is The Western World and The Terrorists. Because it is short and easily read, and also presents ideas at least worth exposing oneself to and contemplating, I would recommend this to anyone who was even remotely interested.

- Interestingly, 17 years after its first appearance, I believe these writings not only hold relevance for the situation they describe and which still exists, but also for new and more current situations. As an example, I couldn't help thinking of the rise of the alt-right and the political upheavals and violence it has triggered in the last few years. I would be interested to see if Baudrillard has written about these new situations.

- I think victim-hood in general is a horrible virus that can be dangerous (whether in genuine victims or disingenuous ones). I don't think I'm original in saying that I think 9/11 set off a whopper of an auto-immune response in America (and much of the world) from which we have still not recovered. And we may never recover. This response is dangerous the more it changes who we are, what we are willing to do, and what we won't allow ourselves to discuss.

Or just ignore me because I probably don't know shit but just felt like writing out a response to what I read to clear my head and try to face forward. ( )