If an elderly lady blows up a hotel, but she claims she was only targeting the concierge....

Today, we debated the meaning of terrorism.

First, I'll begin with my description from class:

Acts of mental or physical torture by an entity aimed at a particular group or particular groups outside of their own; Intended to bring about the degradation of the targets, the power of themselves, or both. The purpose of the torture must be caused by a clash in the holistic ideals of the group and not because of short-term actions. Basically, in terrorism the exact target does not matter. It is what that target stands for. The main goal is ideological power, and many times this results in the drive for political power in order to achieve it. 

Therefore, one important point to me is that terrorists don't necessarily seek political power. Perhaps an example that might make more sense to you than discussing controversial and personal examples in the real world is contemplating Batman's enemy, Joker.

Is the Joker a terrorist? I don't claim to be an avid reader of comics or fan of any of the TV or movie depictions of Batman. Therefore, I will analyze a few different possibilities for his background. 

What matters more- the Joker's process or what happens in the end? Does the Joker care more about mentally or physically torturing others or does he care about them losing in the end? I believe that in terrorism the methods are not as important as the end goals. What does he care about that happens? If he is torturing them, not really caring if they live or die, then it's not terrorism. Terrorism has an end goal. I think the Joker very much cares about mental aggravation, but he also seems frustrated if people don't follow his logically decided plans for them. If they do something unexpected (such as the two boats who chose to blow each other up in the most recent second movie), he is extremely angry about the results. By these circumstances, he is a terrorist. 

What about the Joker's targets? Do his actions target others for specific reasons that are short term (ex. your boss recently fired you, so you target him)? If so, there are not acts of terrorism. This is why I would say assassinations of individuals or even government bodies (if they have hurt an individual in some direct way and are not provoking a response based solely on their ideology) are not acts of terrorism. The Joker seems to have no exact reason. Yes, there are instances in Batman's adventures in which this is the case. However, he seems willing to kill anyone for no specific reason. 

The biggest signal of terrorism to me is the absence or presence of ideological battles. Did you attempt continued violence against a system, group, etc. because of long-term ideological clash between you and them? Then, in most cases I consider this to be terrorism.