This is a great quote from a book review of Kenneth M. Pollack's “A
Path Out of the Desert” by Max Rodenbeck:

> Pollack seems oddly unaware of history’s motivating forces. To
> assert that “what triggers revolutions, civil wars and other
> internal unrest is psychological factors, particularly feelings of
> extreme despair,” is plain silly. The Boston Tea Party could not
> have been prevented by Prozac. Similarly, he ascribes feelings to
> broad categories of Middle Easterners, devoid of any context or
> explanation. They are “angry populations” who suffer “inchoate
> frustration” and “a pathological hatred of the status quo.” We
> repeatedly hear of “Arab rage at Israel” and “Arab venom for
> Israel.” Nowhere is there a hint that such attitudes might bear some
> relation to the plight of the Palestinians, the agony of military
> defeat or the humiliation of life under Israeli occupation.
http://tinyurl.com/5nt28b

I have no interest in debating middle-eastern policy, which in my
opinion would be inappropriate for this list. Instead, I just wanted
to express approval that at least in this instance someone has at
least recognized psycho-babble for the problems it causes; it
dehumanizes people. Clearly, for better or worse, people in the middle-
east act out of real concerns. Psychologizing them gets in the way of
seeing the real problems they are dealing with.

Best,
Matt Dioguardi