Terrorism, Urban Guerrillas, The Case of Greece, Interaction of the Essay

Terrorism, Urban Guerrillas, The Case of Greece, Interaction of the phenomenon with the city - Essay Example Coming to violence, there has been an evolution of the means and methods used in the past and those of the modern twenty first century. The barbarity of the old form of violence cannot be expected to come back in modern sophisticated times. However as Baudrillard observes, the violence of the old â€Å"was more enthusiastic and more sacrificial than ours† (Baudrillard, 1993, p. 75). In contrast, the violence of modern times is more of â€Å"terror† struck by the changing ideologies of hypermodernity. Hoffman calls this a â€Å"simulacrum of violence†. This change in the form and objectives of the terrorists over the years can be explained with the psychoanalysis of Baudrillard and Lacan and the interplay of the symbolic and the imaginary. It is also important to note here the role of the unconscious, its connection to the Real and the way it is related to terrorists’ activities (without any definite objective). Terrorists function with the bigger goal of s timulating the psyche of the masses across the word and creating a strong global impact, thus acting within a symbolic order and trying to create meaning. A simulacrum is the representation of the reality according to Borges fable where the map represented the changing territories of the Empire. Simulation can no more be anything substantial; it is rather something, which originates from nothing or a ‘void’, ideally referred as the ‘hyperreal’ - â€Å"truth that hides the fact that there is none† (Baudrillard, 1994, p.1). The act of simulation refers to the pretention of having something which one does not possess. However this simulation might challenge or threaten the gap between what is true and false or the real and the imaginary. For instance, a person who pretends to be sick needs to produce some of the symptoms of the illness to make it look like the truth. Now if illnesses can be produced then medicine does not hold its significance. Psychoan alysis explains this as the transfer of the â€Å"symptom of the organic order to the unconscious order: the latter is new and taken for â€Å"real† more real than the other.† (Baudrillard, 1994, p.3) Baudrillard in his work The Transparency of Evil refers to such simulation of terrorism the result of a ‘plunge into the void’ by the society (Baudrillard, 1993, p.76). Normally, the military law would punish the simulator after he is unmasked, following the identification norm. Military psychology avoids Cartesian certainties and believes that if one is good at producing the symptoms then one actually is that good. The unconscious is therefore the real to Baudrillard (Baudrillard, 1994, p.4). The relation is no more similar to the map and the territory. The relation can be more easily explained by the mention of the screen, which evokes the passion for the action. It is all about the violence in form of image. Baudrillard stresses on the presence of media wh en he observes this – â€Å"it is advisable not to be in a public place where television is operating, considering the high probability that its very presence will precipitate a violent event† (Baudrillard, 1993, p. 75). The media therefore provides a modern dimension to the incidence of violence. The causes when analyzed do not refer to the typical political, sociological or psychological reasons, which can explain such events. It is rather about publicity, which creates the mass appeal required. The same thing happened where hijackers