Reply #37: To gain respect as an arsonist [View All]

one must work for a landlord.

From Robert Worth's book on the Bronx:

"the Bronx began to burn in about 1970. Many fires were set by landlords who would then collect the insurance money. Often they would sell the building--whether it was still inhabited or not--to "finishers" who would strip out the electrical wiring, plumbing fixtures, and anything else that could be sold for a profit before torching it. "Sometimes there'd be a note delivered telling you the place would burn that night," one man who lived through the period told me. "Sometimes not." People got used to sleeping with their shoes on, so that they could escape if the building began to burn."

Thousands of apartments burned, but the word "terrorism" was never mentioned. Guess it depends on who the arsonist is working for.