I'm puzzled by the sentiments expressed in the article "The world must tackle this mass psychosis", The Age (26/8). Linking anarchism with the posturings of the ISIL religious
fundamentalists, is ludicrous. Anarchism is a political and social philosophy based on the creation of a society without secular and religious rulers. It's no accident the rallying cry of anarchists during the Spanish revolution was "no Gods, no Masters".
Irrespective of the almost universal revulsion at the tactics used by ISIL, it is dangerous to dismiss their homicidal frenzy as psychopathic lunacy. The political and social quest of ISIL and associated groups is as old as the history of the human race. ISIL is a rigidly hierarchical anti-democratic religious fundamentalist group whose members believe their actions are sanctioned by their God. History is littered with the bodies of people who have died at the hands of religious ideologues who use God to justify their actions.
The tragedy is that post modern corporate capitalism's hijacking of the world's economy and the abject failure of communism or socialism to fill the existential void created by the domination of the world economy and culture by corporate capitalism has created conditions in the 21st century that have allowed those who believe they have God's ear, to once again try to impose
their will on the rest of the world in the most barbaric fashion imaginable.