Vx3, your last point is crucial. Why indeed do second and third generation Muslims foresake modernity where their elders otherwise made accommodation? What we see is a demographic timebomb of Muslim youths who have been marginalized and ghettoized by the host nations. Life on the dole, and this is true of all such populations including inner city black youth in America, have no vested interest in society at large, nor status in the community. To gain standing they instead become outlaws, drifting into a criminal subculture where they do achieve recognition of a sort. Both radical Islam and American gang/drug culture serve the same need. There’s a good article on this trend by a Danish sociologist (his name escapes me at the moment) at Gates of Vienna. His point is that in any society where young men lack status, they will fight. If necessary in the cause of nihilism, which is what we see when the suburbs of Paris burn.
American Muslims have been quiescent through the currenct turmoil because America offers all immigrants genuine opportunity. Vested interest based on genuine achievement negates alienation and removes the reason to lash out. But socialism only excerbates the problem by marginalizing immigrant populations. It offers bread and a roof over one’s head, but it cannot give a man status based on achievement. Many people continue to address the question on ideological grounds without looking at the sociology. Both are part of the explanation. And I have known too many secular Muslims to believe that radical Islam is any sort of siren call to a worldwide community of believers. I can only hope that I’m right, of course. Only time will tell.
