[WikiEN-l] terrorism

Wed Jan 21 01:27:42 UTC 2004

zero wrote:
Daniel Mayer wrote:
>> On the other hand the fact that a great many people regard
>> OBL to be a terrorist is one of the big reasons why he is
>> famous.
>
>No, most of his fame is due to his organizing a couple of
>planes to fly into the WTC.  Some is due to his other attacks.

I'd just like to show the broader implications of Zero's point here, because I 
recognise the similarity to another argument put on the ill-fated "list of 
heterosexuals" page.

There, Oliver P discussed Errol Flynn, who had been listed as an example of a 
famous heterosexual. Oliver pointed out that Errol was actually famous for his 
promiscuity, not his heterosexuality. He did this by pointing out that if Errol had been 
a promiscuous bisexual or a promiscuous homosexual, he would still have been 
famous.

Similarly, Zero is making a similar "what if?" point. Suppose that Osama bin Laden 
was not a terrorist, but had still crashed two aircraft into the WTC. Perhaps he wrote 
some buggy software, or was an incompetent air traffic controller, or turned on his 
mobile phone in the cabin, or was a drunk pilot. He'd still be a household name. Kill 
three thousand people in a single day, and you're going to be famous, no matter how 
you do it.

By contrast, suppose that Osama bin Laden had not crashed two aircraft into the 
WTC, but was a terrorist. With the exception of people interested in Middle East 
politics, nobody would know who he was. Indeed, prior to attacking the WTC, Osama 
bin Laden was a terrorist, and wasn't famous enough to get onto "I'm a celebrity, get 
me out of here".

Being regarded as a terrorist doesn't get you a lot of fame. There must be hundreds 
of ex-IRA members wandering about Ireland as we speak, and I don't know any of 
their names. Fame comes from what you DO. How you are regarded also comes 
from what you do. However, fame does not come from how you are regarded (well, I 
guess porn stars are maybe an exception).

All of this discussion is of course completely irrelevant to the vital debate of whether 
or not Osama bin Laden is in fact a porn star.

-Martin "MyRedDice" Harper