The difference between an extremist and a moderate to me is:
-the extremist believes the ends justifies the means, hence dead bodies, broken faces and ruined lives are OK if it leads to an improved society in the long run;
-whereas the moderate, rational or empathic person believes the means must be worthy of the ends. That is, no ugly actions to achieve a noble end. No hurting people, animals, nature, etc. unnecessary to achieve a goal.
Why do people end up an extremist?
The belief their normal, moderate and helpful actions will achieve the aim of their group quickly enough, if at all.
So instead they turn to the destruction of their perceived enemies and focus on attacking them instead of helping the community generally.
This is a FEAR-BASED RESPONSE that comes from a general feeling of powerlessness which leads to depression.
Extremist groups prey upon such hopeless feelings and feed them their ideology of "positive practice"- plotting the destruction of their enemies!
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