I won&#x27;t pretend to know why everything is so fucked right now but I will make 2 points:<p>1) In general, the people actually doing the killings are far removed from the organization&#x27;s leadership.<p>Here&#x27;s an interesting piece on individual Isis fighters: <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.thenation.com&#x2F;article&#x2F;what-i-discovered-from-interviewing-isis-prisoners&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.thenation.com&#x2F;article&#x2F;what-i-discovered-from-inte...</a><p>2) Usually when someone is upset, they&#x27;re very bad at articulating the actual thing that is upsetting them. Often when someone is upset, they&#x27;ll say (and think) it&#x27;s about something that is actually unrelated but happened to come right before the outburst of pent up frustration. To me, Islamism is a suspiciously rational explanation for completely irrational violence. Islam&#x27;s pretty old, the book hasn&#x27;t changed, but we&#x27;re seeing a big spike in coordinated terror against civilians in the last couple years.