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Various theories have been proposed to explain the German terrorist poison. Some ascribe it to the furor teutonicus that nourished the Nazis, but anyone discussing the country that attempted genocide should have a care about racial generalizations. Germans are methodical and tend to become unhinged by attacks on the social order. Even the terrorists are orderly and thorough in their efforts to create disorder; grimly literal minded, they zealously translate extreme theories into practice. But it is hard to argue that Germans have a greater genetic predisposition to violence than other peoples. These days most Germans are careful to avoid any aggressive display. Says a foreign ministry official: "We know we're the most powerful country in Western Europe. But we must bend over backward not to use that power." In fact, the terrorist activity is a lefthanded tribute to democratic institutions. A repressive society would not have tolerated the intellectual dissent that led to terrorism.
Nearly all the Red Army gangsters are products of middle-and upper-middle-class families. Many Germans share the bafflement that George Bernard Shaw is said to have expressed years ago about the English young: "They've got enough food, sexual freedom and indoor toilets. Why the deuce aren't they happy?" West German terrorists are especially difficult to fathom because ideologically they travel light, somewhat like the turn-of-the-century Russian anarchists called bezmo-tivniki (motiveless ones). Says Martin Greiffenhagen, a political scientist at the University of Stuttgart: "Behind the acts of terror stands neither revolutionary theory nor strategy." The American radicals who blew up the Army Mathematics Research Center at the University of Wisconsin seven years ago had Viet Nam for a rationale. The West German terrorists, who command no support in the working class, have only a vague feeling of solidarity with the Third World and a homicidal hatred of their own country.
The terrorists do not connect with the political reality of West Germany, which may partly explain their bitterness. The West German system—capitalism infused with touches of social democracy—has been so successful in gaining its citizens' support that extremists of either left or right have found little social unrest to exploit. Says Irving Fetscher, a political scientist at the University of Frankfurt: "Those students who did try to win over the workers generally failed, and then they turned violent. Either you reshape your view of reality, or you try to punish reality for not conforming to your theories."