English Soul Silver Desmume Rom

150 - Super-empowerment

In an article titled World These new Superman, which destabilize the institutions Yves Mamou draws a parallel between Jerome Kerviel , Albert Gonzalez (a hacker convicted of theft and resale of 170 million credit card numbers) and Julian Assange .

These three examples sign the emergence in the early twenty-first century a new kind of Superman. For the first time in history, a single individual, devoid of the traditional tools of power (military, police ...), without charisma particular, can cause a disorder or destabilize global institutions. While it happened in history that individuals articulate the course of events around the person. Joan of Arc, Rasputin or Gandhi, undoubtedly a gifted exceptional charisma, could act on the will of the powerful or the crowds. But with Kerviel or Gonzalez, here is the advent of Super-ordinary-men. A Superman Without Qualities. The Americans have invented a new word for these individuals: super-empowerment . (1)

It seems that Thomas Friedman, an American journalist, columnist of The New York Times, which had first used the term "Super-Empowered" (missing a word in French to say "coined" !). It was about Osama bin Laden, and was ... en 1998 !

President Clinton called Osama bin Laden's terrorist group ''a network not sponsored by any state, but as dangerous as any we face." Nothing better summarizes the most immediate threat to America today. It is not from another hostile superpower. There is none - for the moment. It is from super-empowered individuals, super-empowered angry men.

The super-empowered angry men have no specific ideological program or demands. Rather, they are driven by a generalized hatred of the U.S., Israel and other supposed enemies of Islam. Ramzi Yousef, mastermind of the World Trade Center bombing, was a super-empowered angry man. Osama bin Laden is another. (2)

Nobody knew then that this idea of Super Empowered Angry Men would find in 2001 a development as tragic and dramatic. Thomas Friedman's article is dated August 22, 1998, 2 days after the U.S. military has attempted to eliminate bin Laden in retaliation for bomb attacks against U.S. embassies in Dar es Salaam and Nairobi. In 2002, he returned to this event in the prologue Latitudes and Longitudes, his book on 'the world after September 11 ":

Think About That : there one day in 1998, The United States fired 75 cruise missiles at bin Laden. The United States fired 75 cruise missiles at $ 1 million apiece, at a person! That Was The First Battle in History Between a superpower and a super- Empowered Angry Man. September 11 was just The Second Such battle. (3)

In the 3 cases cited in Le Monde, like that of bin Laden, which allows private individuals to acquire such power, the misuse of technology is too complex and too ubiquitous , so we can really keep them "under control" or consider it happen.

What Makes Them Super-Empowered , though, IS Their genius at using the Networked World, the Internet & the very high technology THEY hate, to attack us. Think about it: They Turned Our MOST Advanced Flat Into Civilian human-directed, precision-guided cruise missiles - a diabolical melding of Their o Fanaticism and technology. Jihad Online. (4)

It is the complexity that seems crucial point in accessing complex yet unpublished, the world of human artifacts is similar to the physical world and can in turn be subject to a form of butterfly effect: a seemingly innocuous event can trigger events "catastrophic" in the sense of Lorenz .

Luckily for the candidate Superman which would improve the world rather What set fire, there is the technological complexity can also be used for more peaceful ... For example, cryptography, since it has escaped the military alone, also allows Wikileaks to operate effectively. But there's even more simple ...

Jody Williams Won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1997 for Helping to Build An International Coalition to Bring About a treaty outlawing land mines. Although Nearly 120 gouvernements Endorsed The Treaty, It Was Opposed by Russia, China, and the United States. When Jody Williams WAS Asked, "How Did You Do That? How Did you organizes one thousand different Citizens' groups and non-governmental organizations are five continents to forge a treaty That Was Opposed By The Major Power? "she Had a very brief answer:" Email. "(3)

(1) The World - The new Superman destabilize institutions

(2) New York Times - Foreign Affairs; Angry, Wired and Deadly, by T. Friedman
(3) Thomas Friedman - Longitudes and Attitudes
(4) New York Times - Foreign Affairs, World War III, by T. Friedman