As shocking and horrendous as the attacks in France were, it doesn’t take long to trace the underlying and deep-rooted contributory factors that allow us a fuller and more worrying understanding of what leads people to react in such extreme ways and perpetrate such heinous acts.

Is it merely a question of supposed blasphemy versus the Western perspective of supposed free speech? Is that really all it takes in a world where nearly anyone can receive or transmit ideas on any subject that takes their fancy, that people will take to arms, kill and die because they feel insulted by others’ idea of satire? If so, nobody is safe.

Or, were these actions the accumulated effect of neglect suffered by countless generations of French Algerians and other immigrant groups in France?

As a touring musician in the 1990s, I had the pleasure (mostly) of touring large parts of that beautiful country. We would sometimes spend months gigging up and down France. I have witnessed the conditions of the suburban estates (banlieue) and economic wastelands in which many minority groups are placed. I have witnessed the interactions between some white-French citizens and police towards these minority groups and it sickened and saddened me. For all its joie de vivre, culture and expressions of liberty, as in the UK, those choices are reserved for the few, many groups are excluded.

France, like America, Germany Italy and Britain and so on, has a problem with racism. Violence doesn’t solve anything and often exacerbates situations and ignites sometimes centuries of reprisals.

I cannot countenance violence whether it is perpetrated by Western governments in illegal wars to destroy weapons of mass destruction that don’t exist, or to protect oil access or other imperialist desires, be they physical or ideological.

Nor can I condone the past and future acts of violence, carried out in France, the UK or anywhere in reprisal for failed Western foreign policy or anyone’s interpretation of God or religion to excuse killing, whether they be Catholic, Protestant, Muslim, Jew or Jedi.

Our collective survival is at stake. I wonder, however, how the poor souls experiencing the continually horrendous conditions in Syria, Iraq, Palestine, Libya and large parts of Africa feel when they see the Western world’s response to the assassinations of a relatively small number of people in Paris when compared to the 86,000 poor souls who have been killed in Syria in the last year alone? Four million, including heads of state, are motivated to march to uphold the right to free speech, but how many are motivated to march for the innocents in Syria?

To some, this might be perceived as showing double standards or even hypocrisy. Ironically, there are also reportedly four million refugees from the Syrian genocide, which begs the question: who values what more?

It is easy for extremism to flourish, when disparity is so blatant. If people believe that their own life is not valued, why would they value the lives of others?

It seems that no one has learned the lessons of past empires and their demise.

I understand why desperate times often result in desperate measures and, at this moment and after the inevitable next round of tit for tat killing, dangerous right-wing ideology will rear its ugly head and the rights of individuals will be greatly curtailed and liberty imprisoned under the auspices of protection.

Tolerance and respect must be our collective objective. We must learn from our mistakes. To avoid hornet stings, don’t poke nests with sticks! Viva life!