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Experts discount notions of a coherent conspiracy in the spread of left-wing bombing. They attribute it, rather, to the power of suggestion among individuals who think alike. Certainly, as the FBI maintains, some of the suggestion has been fostered by radical groups. But the blame goes deeper into the very marrow of society. Violence has become increasingly accepted in recent years. Traditional restraints are breaking down. It has become easy, in this era of mass murders and daily battle reports, to intellectualize violence and the value of revolution. This is encouraged by the seemingly slow progress of nonviolent protest and the many instances of unfair and inconsistent application of the law.
Moral Dilemma. Young people have plenty of examples of glamorous, if not always successful revolutionaries: the Stern Gang, the Irish Republican Army, Algeria's National Liberation Front, Che Guevara. Cops in San Francisco and New York City both say that the movie The Battle of Algiers has influenced much of the bombing surge. It centers on the moral dilemma of killing innocent people in the cause of revolution. Thirteen Panthers are on trial in New York for conspiring to plant bombs around a congested city. One member of the Committee to Free the Panther 21 argues: "Peaceful demonstrations just don't work. Whatever violence the left may do is not as violent as that of the Establishment."
In the name of their own vision of utopia, the bombers blithely risk the lives of the people to whom, they say, they would give power. There is no doubt that determined terrorists can blow up property, people and a community's equilibrium. But in a nation where the overwhelming majority favor either the status quo or orderly reform in the liberal tradition, mindless acts of violence by a self-appointed revolutionary elite only harden resistance to legitimate, necessary change. Says New York Mayor John Lindsay: "The use of explosives to tear down the system is self-defeating. It's cowardly. No democratic system can live that way. Society cannot permit it."
Saddest of all, playing at revolution is not really necessary. Many effective resources for reform are available—the courts, public opinion, peaceful demonstrations, the ballot. These vehicles are far less spectacular than TNT, but more effective in the long run. By changing the nation's mind rather than blowing it, those who seek to remake the world would at least have some chance of success.
* The Germanic spelling, which is used by some radicals to indicate America's control by "fascists."