Global Drama on Repeat: Why Extremism Feels Like the New Normal

Funny how I first wrote this back in 2012:

"I’ve just woken up to a loud beat that echoes Chapter 4 in my book “The End.” CNN just flashed it across the screen: five American men arrested in Pakistan on suspicion of terrorism. And honestly, I’m not the least bit surprised."

Back then, I had this strange sense of déjà vu. It felt predictable—as if we were all extras in some global “plant and pay off” drama, performing our roles with zero clue about the final act. And of course, if the claims were true, history was about to repeat itself.

Fast forward a few years, and now the phenomenon has escalated. We have an alarming number of Western jihadists—Caucasian natives joining conflicts against their own countries. The most striking—and perhaps troubling—part? It’s becoming normalized. It no longer shocks us the way it used to. We scroll past the headlines, maybe shake our heads for a second, then move on, as if extreme lifestyles and radical choices are just another part of modern life.

It’s a curious shift. What once seemed extraordinary—people abandoning their homes and communities to fight in faraway conflicts—is now treated almost like routine news. And therein lies the question: are we gradually accepting patterns of behavior that, a decade ago, would have been unimaginable? Are we desensitized to global unrest?

History has a way of repeating itself, but human memory seems to have a short attention span. Maybe that’s why I keep noticing the same patterns echoing through headlines, decade after decade. And maybe, just maybe, the story isn’t about surprise or scandal—it’s about recognizing the cycles we let repeat, often without learning anything from them.

So here we are: a world where déjà vu is just the new normal, and where predictability feels like fate wearing a familiar face. Will we ever truly break the cycle, or are we content with rehearsing the same global play over and over again?

 

 💡 By the Way....

Most of my recent work now lives at The Skywatcher’s Journal. Come join me there as well. In the meantime, circle back here for updates on this old blog—I’ve come to realize that sometimes, old is gold.

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