A similar thread ties the San Bernardino shooters, the Paris attacks of a few months ago and the Charlie Hebdo shooters and many others. The attackers weren&#x27;t known as being particularly devout, but they weren&#x27;t known for having much of a life outside the Jihadi cause.<p>By the time an impressionable, disheartened recruit is on the Internet looking for violent hate speech to adopt, many things have already failed socially for them: a real sense of belonging, dignified prospects, hope for a future, a nurturing, generative ethos, a stable family. They are a socially shattered coterie. Jihad gave them a sense of significance they never had but always wanted.<p>People underestimate a preference to die on one&#x27;s feet over living on one&#x27;s knees. Not to mention fighting for a cause larger than oneself, right or wrong.