Norway and terrorism: white male rage

As a result of the Norwegian tragedy, INTERPOL has announced that it will investigate the threat of right-wing terrorism. This is a long overdue recognition that the so-called "war on terror" has had too narrow a focus. "White male rage" also needs to be examined by the police.

Anders Brevik may have acted alone. But he was not a lonely figure in political terms.

Traditionally right-wing extremists – being so paranoid – have a problem in even co-operating with others of the sake ilk. They often fall out and so can't/ won't work together. This makes the job of detection more complicated because they leave so few clues.

There is a distinct strand of extremist right-wing political thinking that now runs through western societies that should not be overlooked. We should avoid rushing to judgement that Brevik was simply "insane".

There are much deeper issues involved. The most obvious location for identifying this trend is in the United States, where weapons and bomb material are much easier to obtain than in most other western countries. A person with extremist views can more easily implement violence in the US than elsewhere. As the saying goes: "I love my country but I am scared of my government and so I need a gun to defend myself".

Among the US practitioners have been:

. Timothy McVeigh (1993: Oklahoma City bombing, 168 people killed);

. Scott Roeder (2009: murder targeting a doctor who did abortions: two people killed);

. Joseph Stack (2010: killed himself by flying his plane into the US tax office building, Austin, Texas, two others killed);

. Jared Loughner (2011 attempted murder of Congresswoman Gabrielle Cliffords; six people killed)

All apparently acted alone but had some similarities: they were angry white men, often with a very conservative Christian background, who saw themselves as "warriors" campaigning against some modern trends. By their own standards they were not "mad" or unbalanced – they could see things about modern society that the rest of the population were not seeing.

In a deeper sense, they can also feel in their bones that an era is coming to a close: 500 years of white male European (and North American) domination of the world. Beginning in the 1490s the Portuguese and Spanish (followed by the Dutch, French and British) sailed from their rocky outcrop at the western end of the giant Eurasian landmass and took white civilization to all other parts of the world.

The European era of dominating world history has drawn to a close; its daughter's (the US's) may also be ending. Now it is the turn of China and India. Meanwhile western women and blacks are now being treated as equal citizens.

A decade of anti-Islamic ranting in some of the media has given the list of traditional grievances new addition: fears of their own government, the United Nations as a "world government" (and in the Anders case, the European Union, which Norway has not yet joined), multiculturalism, immigration, and the erosion of what they see as traditional Christian values.

Brevik saw himself as a bit above some the cruder exponents of white male rage who are concerned about the "purity of the race" (such as the European neo-Nazi groups). He realized that the racial argument would not work in Norway (especially given its unfortunate World War II history of Nazi collaboration which Norwegians naturally like to forget).

Brevik argued that the influx of Muslims should be opposed because their culture would not be accommodated within Norwegian society. Therefore he was opposed to multiculturalism (which is now also a common theme in some media commentary). Ironically some Muslims provide fuel for this argument by trying to have their own Sharia law recognised as a strand within western society's legal processes.

Whare are some implications from all of this tragedy?

First, we should avoid glib assumptions that mass murderers like Brevik are just lonely unbalanced individuals. They have a political agenda that needs to be understood.

Second, as we approach the 10^th anniversary of "9/11" (September 11 2001), it is worth noting just how much we have distorted our security precautions by an obsessive focus on a comparatively small Islamicist threat (exaggerated by some parts of the media and politicians for their own purposes). There have been other threats bubbling away which have not been on our radar screen.

Third, it is yet another warning about the need to stand firm on the easy availability of guns. The minor Shooters Party in the NSW Upper House holds some of the balance of power and is apparently seeking to use its leverage on the State Government to permit gun training in schools –a move that needs to be opposed.

Finally, Norway always scores well in international surveys covering such matters as standard of living, economic stability, human rights and governance. The tragedy is a reminder than even in a socialist paradise white male rage can still be bubbling away.