Aum's growth was fostered by the very governmental structure it rebelled against. Its case articulates how liberal democracies are supportive of terrorism. (Lecture, 9/24) To begin with, Asahara was able to officially register it with the Japanese government in 1989. (Katzenstein, 1991) Not only did the group receive official acknowledgment, but also enjoyed tax exemptions. In 1990, Aum's party, Shinri-to ran in the General Election for the lower house. (Metraux, 1999) After exhausting seven million dollars in a failed campaign, Asahara changed his route to exploit democracy to win favor. Freedom of speech encouraged Asahara to flaunt his charisma through public speeches in Aum rallies. Asahara utilized the media to its maximum capacity, spreading his message through mangas (graphic comic books) and anime programs. So powerful was his use of the media that apart from rapidly securing more than ten thousand followers in Japan, his daily shows on Radio Moscow earned him thirty thousand members in Russia. (Kisala, 2001).
As Asahara began forming international links in Russia, he came to see Aum as a potential military organization. He shopped the idea of obtaining or constructing nuclear weapons from Russia. (Lifton, 1999) Once again, Japan's democratic structure that offered Asahara freedom of movement, was helping him inflate his cult into a fearful state. The same government that granted Aum tax exemption, was unknowingly helping fill Asahara's pockets with insane amounts of revenue. Aum was capable of obtaining weapons that the government itself did not have. It was expanding into a corporate establishment, something democracy and a capitalist system encouraged. Asahara was a religious entrepreneur. Aum ran publication companies, owned tea plantations in Sri Lanka where it also sought followers given the country's Buddhist population, and opened up laboratories in Japan to construct hi-tech equipment.
