# Symbionese Liberation Army

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/symbionese-liberation-army/51494>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [January 24, 2001, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/symbionese-liberation-army/51494 "2001-01-24T01:39:27Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![DaveRaver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/daveraver/32/1078_2.png) [@DaveRaver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaveRaver)\
**Post date:** [January 24, 2001, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/symbionese-liberation-army/51494/1 "2001-01-24T01:39:27Z")

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Patty Hearst was kidnapped by the Symbionese Liberation Army. Is there a country called Symbionia that I haven’t heard of? What exactly does it mean to be Symbionese, and why do they need to be liberated?

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**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\
**Post date:** [January 24, 2001, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/symbionese-liberation-army/51494/2 "2001-01-24T02:15:54Z")

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The Symbionese are a “theoretical” group, the name derived from _symbiotic_, describing interaction between species for mutual benefit. The Symbionese represents a symbol for oppressed people everywhere. They were a splinter of a splinter of the SDS/Weathermen movement, and were as crazy as a shithouse mouse.

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**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\
**Post date:** [January 24, 2001, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/symbionese-liberation-army/51494/3 "2001-01-24T05:13:37Z")

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Yes, the members of the SLA actually thought that upper-middle class white leftists with bachelor degrees in political philosophy, had something in common with poor minorities. Hence the “sybiosis”.

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**Author:** ![black\_rabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f19dbf/32.png) [@black\_rabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/black_rabbit)\
**Post date:** [January 24, 2001, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/symbionese-liberation-army/51494/4 "2001-01-24T06:19:42Z")

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Also, it was briefly the name of my band.

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**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\
**Post date:** [January 24, 2001, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/symbionese-liberation-army/51494/5 "2001-01-24T14:42:24Z")

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And for those who still need some historical context, let’s not forget that the SLA never numbered more than maybe 20 during it’s entire existence.

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**Author:** ![stubble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5ac83/32.png) [@stubble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stubble)\
**Post date:** [January 24, 2001, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/symbionese-liberation-army/51494/6 "2001-01-24T18:25:34Z")

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I’ve always respected their actions and concerns for conjoined twins worldwide…oh wait, that was the Siamese Liberation Army… my mistake