English 3810

Susan Zickmund, in her essay “Approaching the Radical Other” (1997), asserts that extremist ideas within cyber texts show that radicals discriminate against innocent members of society. Zickmund supports this assertion by citing specific examples of the radical Internet culture, the Other, and society to fuel her argument. Her purpose is to make her readers aware that cyberspace gives subversives a place to hate not only in the real world but on the Internet. She establishes a relationship with an audience who agrees with her views about anti-Semitic groups and their affect on cyberspace.
Zickmund states, “The Internet may thus endanger the very notion of a closed community. In doing so it could become an ally in the struggle against bigotry and racism.” (251). Here she provides her readers with a very strong point. What of the youth who is doing research at their computer? They type in an unfamiliar word and something unexpectedly negative appears. A similar scenario was what one 26-year-old real-estate investor experienced when he typed the word “Jew” into the Google search engine. According to an article, which was featured on Wired.com, Steven Weinstock discovered an anti-Semitic site was first to appear when he searched for the word “Jew.” This in fact illustrates that the Internet has become a resource to spread prejudice and intolerance.
Subversives no longer have to protest with marches and other demonstrations. These individuals have access to thousands more people with the Internet. They can sit back in the comfort of their own homes and share their cynical thoughts with both willing and unwilling Internet users. It is crazy to think that if they can get to users of technology so easily now, what will it be like in the years to come?