How to Respond to the Paris Attacks
The following article was written by Sheldon Richman and published on his blog Free Association, November 16, 2015.

Look, even authoritarian and totalitarian states can’t prevent domestic terrorism. What hope do relatively open societies have? Open societies abound with “soft targets”; that is, noncombatants going about their everyday lives. They are easy hits for those determined to inflict harm, especially if the assailants seek to die in the process.





Missing was any reference to France’s bombing of Syria.


Why do the U.S. media think Americans need not know what the French know? (I won’t say America’s establishment media never associate jihadi terrorism with revenge, but it’s far too infrequent.)



The New York Times reported that a witness to the Paris violence heard one perpetrator say, “What you are doing in Syria, you are going to pay for it now.”

The upshot is that war on Mideast populations will not prevent terrorism against western societies. On the contrary, it will make terrorism more likely because “the action is in the reaction.” Indeed, the U.S.-led coalition commits terrorism in the eyes of its victims — so many of whom are noncombatants. Who can blame them when, for example, the Obama administration has no idea whom it kills with its “signature strikes” by drone? As the New York Times reported,



Finally, just as more war will fail to protect Americans and Europeans, so will further destruction of their liberties fail. Closing these open societies is a bizarre way to answer jihadis. Better to liquidate the self-destructive empire and privatize security. It’s often said that “freedom isn’t free.” Fine, but why must we pay monopoly prices for inferior “services”?

Translations for this article:

Anarchy and Democracy
Fighting Fascism
Markets Not Capitalism
The Anatomy of Escape
Organization Theory