"In the last analysis terrorism is an idea generated by capitalism to justify better defense measures to safeguard capitalism." - Rainer Werner Fassbinder

I cringed when the first news reports mentioned very early on yesterday that the victim was wearing a Help the Heroes t-shirt. And I was appalled when the BBC's Nick Robinson referred to the suspects as being "of Muslim appearance". Eh?!

Everyone should read this: "Death by the Barracks", by Richard Seymour, who analyses the dialectical relationship between ongoing governmental policies and the English Defence League's own political objectives. Some quotations from the article:

"The consequence of over a decade of syncopated Islam-baiting has been a pronounced political turn to the Right, especially on questions of immigration, nationality and 'race'. Coterminously, 'Britishness' has increasingly been merged with militarism. The ultimate test of one's integration, one's loyalty to 'British values', is to fight for said values. The ultimate proof of one's betrayal is to insult the soldiers who defend them. One can be against war, on the ground that it is too much benevolence for an undeserving mob, but one can't denounce the troops themselves. The case of Azhar Ahmed, whose sole offence was to castigate British soldiers on Facebook, indicates the potential costs of doing so, particularly for a Muslim. It also illustrates the centrality of the state to the development and implementation of these ideologies."

"Cameron was briefly magnanimous enough to say, yesterday, that the attack was not the fault of Islam but of the individuals alone. The Muslim Council of Britain and the Ramadhan Foundation corroborated this exoneration of the faith with their strenuous denunciations of the killing. But they will know very well that such corroboration implied that the exoneration was needed. They will also know that in his speech Cameron also referred to the problem as one of 'extremism', and it is this which he charges ordinary Muslims with tolerating or harbouring. They will know that Cameron's government will hold Muslims and Muslim organisations answerable for this, irrespective of diplomatic statements made in the heat of the moment. Their every statement can now be combed for potentially disloyal nuance. Police searches, internment, a few more Forest Gates - all this is possible until the government is satisified with the degree of cooperation it is receiving."

"And it is because of the dominant role of the British state, and in the context of that state's action, that a right-wing 'counter-jihadist' politics of street mobilisations and violence has developed."

In other words, those angry, confused many who have for too long been disillusioned with and continually failed by their government (in fact, an entire political system), who are now misplacing their energy and time to a racist political group (the EDL) are doing so under the false assumption that their own objectives are entirely different from the government's.

But big business and fascism are bedpals through and through.

I'm fearful, in all honesty, because I know how rapidly things can escalate when irrationality and confusion are the driving forces behind a group of people desperate for purpose and direction.

But I think we should also fight fear, and the bigotry with which it manifests itself.