SOME TACTICAL REFLECTIONS
SOME TACTICAL REFLECTIONS -- PART I
***
[Author's note: these observations derive from 32 years'
experience as a libertarian activist as well as a struggle
against gun control which has lasted almost as long. I write
novels and never thought of myself as an aphorist, but these
seemed to congeal out of thin air after I read a biography of
Admiral Lord Nelson as part of my research for _Henry Martyn_.]
***
If you're not a little bit uncomfortable with your position,
it isn't radical enough. How can you be TOO principled? Take
the most extreme position you can -- you're claiming territory
you won't have to fight for later, mostly with your "allies".
***
Let the other guy offer compromises. Think of them as rungs
on a ladder. Keep your own goals fixed firmly in your mind and
make sure you never move any direction but upward. That's how
the other side got where they are. It works.
***
Never aim at anything but total achievement of your goal:
utter capitulation of the enemy. Every effort involves inertia
and mechanical losses, so adopting any lesser objective means
partial defeat. Total victory means you don't have to fight the
same fight again tomorrow.
***
Second thoughts, failure of confidence, nervous last-minute
course-changes are all detours and recipes for defeat. The time
to think is before the battle -- if possible, before the war --
not in the heat of it.
***
The shortest path to victory is a straight line. He who
remains most consistent wins.
***
Go straight to the heart of the enemy's greatest strength.
Break that and you break him. You can mop up the flanks and
stragglers later, and they may even surrender, saving you a lot
of effort.
***
Always attack in "perpendicular" fashion, from an
unconventional and unexpected (but relevant) direction. The
enemy will be unprepared; you can strike him with your full
strength while he finds nothing to attack effectively.
***
Remain the judge of your own actions. Never surrender that
position by default. When the enemy screams "Foul!" the loudest,
you know you're doing him the most damage. Those who help him
scream are also the enemy.
***
If you can avoid it, never play on the other guy's field, by
the other guy's rules, or with the other guy's ball. He didn't
design his system to give you the advantage. Remember that
organisms defending their own territory are twice as effective as
an intruding attacker.
***
You may never convince the other guy, but it's often
worthwhile to keep arguing for the effect it has on bystanders,
especially his allies.
***
Well-timed silence is an effective bargainer. Most people
fear silence at a level below conscious analysis and rush to fill
the emptiness with accommodation. A difficult tactic to learn
and use, but it works.
***
L. Neil Smith
Author: THE PROBABILITY BROACH, THE CRYSTAL EMPIRE,
HENRY MARTYN, and (forthcoming) PALLAS
LEVER ACTION BBS (303) 493-6674, FIDOnet: 1:306/31.4
Libertarian Second Amendment Caucus
NRA Life Member
SOME TACTICAL REFLECTIONS -- PART II
***
[Author's note: these observations derive from 32 years'
experience as a libertarian activist as well as a struggle
against gun control which has lasted almost as long. I write
novels and never thought of myself as an aphorist, but these
seemed to congeal out of thin air after I read a biography of
Admiral Lord Nelson as part of my research for _Henry Martyn_.]
***
The more fundamental position is the highest ground,
allowing the most "perpendicular" attack. If he argues politics,
argue ethics -- things seldom go beyond this stage. If he argues
ethics, argue epistemology (look it up). If he argues
epistemology, argue metaphysics. If he argues metaphysics,
you're up against Darth Vader and you're in trouble. Switch back
to politics and accuse him of being out of touch with everyday
reality. Or ask him if he's stopped beating his wife.
***
Conservatives are accustomed to being called fascists and
well prepared to defend themselves on that ground. Liberals are
used to being called socialists. Those labels can be switched,
however, and remain valid and instructive. It also catches them
completely unprepared.
***
Understand from the minute the fight begins that you're
going to take damage. Accept it. (You'll always suffer more
from the idiots and cowards on your own side than from any
enemy.) Keep your overall goal in mind above all. Those who
swerve to avoid a few cuts and bruises defeat themselves.
***
If you lose, go down fighting. It costs nothing extra, and
now and again ...
***
Know down to the last cell in your body that the other guy
started it. He's the one who put things in an ethical context
where considerations like decency and mercy have no referent.
The less pity moves you now, the sooner you can go back to being
a nice guy.
***
Otherhandwise, the easiest, most humiliating path to defeat
is thinking that to beat your enemy you must be like him. Avoid
the temptation to set your values aside "for the duration".
What's the point of fighting if you give up what you're fighting
for? If remaining consistent with your values leads to defeat,
you chose the wrong values to begin with.
***
Truth is a valuable commodity which you don't automatically
owe to anyone. Remember, however, that lies are even more
expensive -- they're tiring and costly to maintain -- and even a
tiny one can utterly destroy you.
***
Never soft-pedal the truth. It's seldom self-evident and
almost never sells itself. There's less sales resistance to a
glib and comforting lie.
***
Lies can be custom-tailored; truth comes straight off the
rack -- one size fits all.
***
Those who lead through authority have rivals on whom they
must expend as much energy and attention as they do on their
enemies. Those who lead by example have enemies, but no rivals.
***
L. Neil Smith
Author: THE PROBABILITY BROACH, THE CRYSTAL EMPIRE,
HENRY MARTYN, and (forthcoming) PALLAS
LEVER ACTION BBS (303) 493-6674, FIDOnet: 1:306/31.4
Libertarian Second Amendment Caucus
NRA Life Member
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