Tactics matter. Ineffective tactics must be quickly abandoned for more sophisticated ones as the means to implement them become available.
First Generation Warfare (1GW) is characterized by massed troops standing in line formation firing muskets at each other. 2GW emphasized firepower, especially artillery, immobilizing the enemy, simply stated using the French maxim: “Artillery conquers, infantry occupies.” 3GW uses maneuver to shatter opposing unit cohesion, disorient the opposition by making it impossible to figure out what’s going on in real time, using speed, maneuver and combined arms to make resistance impossible: Blitzkrieg.
Non-military examples of application of these techniques and philosophies:
1GW: Tea Party demonstrations in Washington DC where we gather and shout at Congressional buildings and no one listens
2GW: Lobby Day in the Virginia Capitol; much more effective
3GW: the Wisconsin legislative occupation; arguably the most effective recent political demonstration anywhere in the United States. Significant for its easy lawlessness. (1)
What is 4GW?: “Still rooted in the fundamental precept that superior political will, when properly employed, can defeat greater economic and military power, 4GW makes use of society’s networks to carry on its fight. Unlike previous generations of warfare, it does not attempt to win by defeating the enemy’s military forces. Instead, via the networks, it directly attacks the minds of enemy decision makers to destroy the enemy’s political will. Fourth-generation wars are lengthy–measured in decades rather than months or years.”
This last bit makes 4GW ideal for use against civilian populations. Its message is simple: RESISTANCE IS FUTILE. The 4GW practitioner uses whatever kind of resource superiority it has to wear down the opposition’s political will over many years. It helps a lot if the opposition itself is providing the funding, through taxes, for the warfare that is being conducted against it.
Domestic 4GW is being waged against the productive members of American society. For example, Political Correctness is a 4GW weapon. If you resist you will be silenced by name-calling, you will be attacked from multiple sides simultaneously, putting you immediately on the defensive. It doesn’t matter if the charges are true or not, because the PCers are also the gatekeepers of the media. You won’t get the opportunity to refute them, and the people who threw the charges at you will never be required to either prove them or retract them. Don’t like wealth redistribution? RACISTS. Don’t like socialized medicine? RACISTS. Second Amendment supporter? DOMESTIC TERRORIST LONE WOLF. Home schooler? WEIRDO, WHATEVER HAPPENS TO YOU, IT’S PROBABLY YOUR OWN FAULT.
Everywhere we turn, they will be there to block our efforts. Exchanging ideas on the Internet? They’ll regulate it to safeguard it. Talk radio advancing our ideas? They’ll make it more “fair.” Try to un-elect them? They’ll redistrict. Try to use their courts to petition for a redress of grievances? They’ll dismiss our suit.
We are playing fair, and they’re not. They’re getting away with it, and winning. Do you understand?
RESISTANCE IS FUTILE.
Domestic 4GW first came out of the closet in the United States with the advent of the War on Drugs. By using fear to foster support for anti-drug police actions, the War on Drugs quickly morphed into a war on civil rights. Drug-related police activities have all-too-often provided fodder for many important court decisions that shatter Constitutional protections. Most recently, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that police can enter a home without a warrant if they believe they smell marijuana and hear sounds they believe indicate evidence is being destroyed. After a few decades of conditioning, there’s no outrage even when SWAT drug warrant-services result in the death of the innocent-until-proven-guilty homeowner. The never-ending War on terror has accelerated the loss of individual liberties, adding secret courts, military tribunals, suspension of habeas corpus, sexual assault in airports, and soon in train stations. Nothing to see here, citizen, move along.
It’s time for the Tea Parties to develop and implement our own brand of 4GW.
1 – IMO few people understand what really happened in Wisconsin. The legislature was seized and prevented from operating. Lawmakers abandoned their posts. Law enforcement officials did nothing about it. The “voters” will do nothing about it, because the majority want their endless free pie. There will be more “Wisconsins” as governments run out of money, you can count on it. Meanwhile, in yet another example of 4GW, police body-slam peaceful dancers in the Jefferson Memorial. Even peaceful, non-verbal resistance will be met with violence. RESISTANCE IS FUTILE.
