T-34, and later the mig-15 could be considered as the true symbols of stalinism; as panzer
and stuka were those of Nazism. Those symbols contain all the ratioanlities and
irralionalities of both totalitarian regimes, their way of thinking and their way of
acting: worship of power and force, the central role of the fuhrer or the god-leader as a
personification of community and its unity behind the Idea - the new religion. In fact the
new religion prevailed, not only through fraud and repression, it won mostly due to the
submission and acceptance of the masses. Those symbols had double functions: to convey the
ideological message of the regime, and as means to prevail, to conquer, to achieve the
ultimate goal: to conquer the whole universe, and establish its special equivalent of the
theological "kingdom of god", their lasting empire. ISIS, and political Islam, bear very
much similarities to Nazism and Stalinism.
It is a complex revolutionary - reactionary, anti-capitalist, anti-working class,
anti-imperialist, and would - be - imperialist, movement, all at the same time. Like
fascism, it fills the gap, where ongoing social and political struggles reach a dead-end,
where old elites could not rule anymore, but where popular grassroots movements cannot
overthrow the the system also.. Aside from the traditional black flag, ISIS claimed they
inherited from prophet Mohamad, the actual symbol of the new totalitarian power is the
sword. They use it in their Hollywood-like videos of exterminating their prisoners, in
their propaganda songs and materials, as a symbol of jihad, determination, and terror. In
his "crime and punishment", Foucault noticed that capitalism had "rationalized"
punishment, reduced it to the least level needed to protect private property and its other
assets.
What ISIS trying to do is exactly the opposite, to reverse this trend, and process. Even
Hitler's gas chambers, and of course: the atomic bomb, and killing by drone, etc, using
high tech to kill massively, but more "humanly", with less theatrical or ritual bloodshed,
was the trend since 18 th century, including in colonized Arab and Muslim countries. The
sword as a symbol had twofold functions for the jihadists: it represent an independent,
old - new, symbol of power and authority, that stood as a negation of "western"
imperialist civilization ( the capitalist one ) and its symbols, and as an old - new
weapon of terror.
In contrast to Nazism and stalinism, The jihadist utopia isn't futurist, it exists in the
past, which must be imitated in full details, in order to achieve the same result as
Mohamad did once: conquering all imperialist powers of his time, and building his own
imperialism. To some extent, that was also the declared objective of "secular" pan -
nationalist regimes ( Nasser' s and the Baathists in Damascus and Baghdad before ).. ISIS
is only the last revival of the long going debate about the backwardness of the east, its
weakness and manipulation by western imperialist powers. This was always a double game:
how to imitate the west in order to become a match to it, and the need to stay "ourselves"
in the struggle against the colonial powers. Admiration and hatred towards the colonial
west, was not felt only by the masses of colonized east, but also by the local social and
intellectual elites. The conflict between traditionalism ( conservatism ) and more liberal
or modern way of thinking never stopped.
Very few only called for a total negation of the past, and for a total revolutionary
futurist solutions. The majority called for some compromise between the past and the
present. Criticizing Islam was never done up to its end. Even communists and other
leftists; under the pressure of their societies and their big brother in Soviet union, who
tried to play the card of nationalist liberation against its western rivals ( the same was
done by western powers who supported the ultra - reactionary Saudi regime and the
jihadists against USSR local agents, and finally against Russian invasion of Afghanistan )
were always able to find something "progressive" in Koran and the teachings of traditional
scholars.. ISIS didn't start from nowhere.
What they did is exactly what their western and eastern likes did ( Nazism and stalinism
), they push to the extreme all the irratioanlities of their society and its ruling class
and the level of alienation of its popular classes.. Liberals repeat today the communists'
previous compromising attitude toward the reactionary dogmatic Islam. Now, big parts of
the popular classes fell under the influence of ISIS and likes. They think that ISIS '
victory would bring their emancipation, from both colonial west and local "secular"
dictatorships. For some of the oppressed, joining ISIS' ranks means going higher in the
social hierarchy. Urban middle class is the main source of skepticism and resistance
against ISIS. Even better organized and represented, this class lacks the courage and
determination of popular classes. Urban middle class is very much right in their
resistance against ISIS, but they resist ISIS not because its victory will not mean
masses' real emancipation; they want to defend their perceived privileges and their less
rigid life style; but they couldn't manage to fight ISIS back, and they don't care about
the ignorant backward masses. ISIS' rise bears a lot of resemblance to Khomeini's rise.
They represent the same social powers, and the same popular hopes ( read: illusions ) of
emancipation; that will end only in a new Bolshevik - like totalitarian regime. The time
came for a more radical criticism of Islam's dogmas. The relented intellectual elite
doesn't have the courage to do it. Radical criticism must not target Islam alone. Which
would mean only criticizing one dogma for the benefit of another. More than a Copernican
revolution, more negation is needed, something like destroying all the idols, once and for
all. Some sort of surrealist - dadaist liberation of mind, subconsciousness and the bodily
desires of every taboo and prohibition. Not only the sword as a symbol and a weapon of
terror and propaganda. Authoritarian terror and dogmas should be the target. Authority itself.
https://mazenkamalmaz.wordpress.com/
Home »
» Mazenkamalmaz - Sword: the symbol of ISIS (it)