Yahoo News- Effectiveness of ISIS Marketing
Take a few moments and read the above article. Ponder on it a bit, and when you’re done, read it again, in the context of another guerrilla movement- your own. Or the one you want, at least.
You say you want a revolution yeah, well you know- we all wanna change the world…
Any movement requires propaganda for two reasons:
- Brand Advertising and Recognition
- Spreading a message to a target audience
Let’s discuss the first one from a marketing perspective. A brand is created. A brand needs a recognizable name, logo, and goal. Nike shoes don’t make you an athlete, but you think they do by the advertising. The name, the logo, and the goal (athletic ability) are all clearly stated. And when you think Nike, you think athletic shoes, nevermind the fact that many brands are not only better but cheaper too. Their marketing is effective.
Take international Marxism.
That’s a brand too. People’s popular movements, logos involving raised fists, farm or industrial tools, and names that are easy to remember. It doesn’t matter that these groups are responsible for far more bloodshed than their envisioned oppressors, or that the end goal is far greater oppression than what their fighting against, the common name and symbolism, at least on it’s face, serves as a rally for it’s followers, an attraction for the passe support, and a calling card to those it fights. To the terrorist, or more correctly named non-state actor, the symbol becomes a mark of recognition for every action it takes working towards a goal. The trick lay with the action taken behind that symbol. Take the logo of the FLN seen here. It roots Marxism with a symbol of national future, being the children’s faces in the flame, and the crescent, the symbol of Islam, together in one logo, implicitly stating the goal of the organization. If you know anything about Algeria (which I most seriously suggest you should, starting with the film “The Battle of Algiers”) you’ll instantly know the effectiveness of their campaign and the new era of African wars of liberation which followed.
Propaganda can work two ways. When a brand suffers irreparable damage, it usually goes away. Think of any company out there who suffered some sort of brand damage of which it failed to recover. Almost always, it eventually dies a slow, miserable death. K-Mart comes to mind here. Bear in mind the media assault against the militia movement of the 90s…I was a kid, but vividly remember the all out assault on everything and anything ‘militia’ related concerning Ruby Ridge, then Waco, then OKC, then Eric Rudolph, and all of the all-out media blitz against the ‘militia’ who were usually comprised of just about anyone opposed to the policies of the Clintonistas and happened to be armed. With all this, ‘militia’ became a bad word. The propaganda worked, at least for the time being, and the opposition presented on the far-Right was for the time effectively crushed.
Propaganda comes in two distinct forms
As I pointed out a while back concerning the fallacies/fantasies of ‘leaderless resistance’, propaganda is purveyed in two very distinct forms- Interior and Exterior. The former is intended for those already within a movement, having adopted its ideology, goals, and language. It speaks in readily identifiable terms for those familiar with them, and assumes the reader is in common agreeance with those goals. Interior propaganda is used to spread messages directing a common goal, build morale, recruitment of lesser actors into more serious echelons of action, providing information on possible future action, and creating symbols that serve as rally points. These can be physical symbols, common locations, or martyrs. Remember this. The latter is intended to be consumed by the masses; it is concerned solely with advancing the brand. Victories, whether actual or imagined, are lauded up front, atrocities of the enemy are widely lamented and viscerally displayed, martyrs are created, causes are identified, moral dualities and dilemmas are raised, and the front groups forming supporting arms are advertised. Meetings, rallies, marches, and public anchor points are usually always identified.
For example, in Iraq, al-Naqshibandya identified itself with a bright red hand print painted on meeting places and caches. Their primary means of attack involved throwing RKG-3 anti-tank grenades at passing convoys in tight spaces. Unfortunately for us, it worked well. Associated with those attacks were a lookout with a camera filming the whole thing and distributing it underground to potential recruits and sympathetic TV outlets. On the ground, I caught one of these guys and along with the MFT team with us rolled up an entire network within the afternoon. Months later, while flicking through local TV channels, film of one of those attacks in Samara was being broadcast. So while one got rolled up, others continued on. It’s all about the ‘street cred’…proving you can do what you say you can. And with that, the message is sent.
In the linked article, both are discussed. Exterior propaganda is referenced through the quote:
In home-base countries like Iraq and Syria, ISIS propaganda often depicts ISIS’ governance successes to reinforce support from local populations. When fomenting hatred of Western governments, ISIS relies on highly sophisticated, multilingual content intended to outrage the public and get picked up by the mainstream press.
Foreign recruits in ISIS’ media department are critical to ensuring that the content targeting a specific region has the substance and timing to achieve maximum impact. These recruits provide basic translation services, monitor the reaction to ISIS’ propaganda, and use that feedback to tailor future content.
Examples of interior propaganda are given as well:
But ISIS moved beyond al-Qaida’s private online network. Recognizing the desire of its audience to leverage mobile platforms for media consumption and engagement, ISIS developed a decentralized and diverse network of free file-upload sites, social media platforms and messaging apps to ensure continuous and cost-efficient access to a global audience. Offline, inside ISIS-controlled territory, ISIS still relies on traditional media like print publications and broadcast radio to target local audiences while also removing competing alternatives. This diverse set of distribution channels enables ISIS to reach an equally diverse set of target audiences, including opponents, the international community and potential recruits.
The messages are diverse, but unified in their goal, and difficult if not impossible to stop. As long as there’s propaganda, there will be willing consumers, and as long as there’s a means to meet that need, potential recruits will always exist. It’s for this reason that recent attacks are indeed associated with ISIS- because they say so, the actors themselves say so, both serve the end goal, and that’s all that’s needed, ‘counter-terror experts’ be damned.
So all of this being said, it’s important to recognize that the Left in the US are very, very effective propagandists,
possibly even better than the old Pravda masters, and certainly better than anything heard on Radio Havana or the old Deutche Welle. After all, the Left dominates every formal Journalism school in the US, and as such, will continue to define the news in their terms. So how does one fight it? Taking the lessons of the Opposition and creating your own. It all starts local and builds from there, identifying a target audience and moving forward with both interior and exterior messages. The Right, historically, is terrible at this, almost exclusively concerned with maintaining a status-quo at the macro level. Seeing that this also is historically a losing endeavor, a change is required. The first step is creating a better propaganda model than the worn-out militia memes and blowhards with NRA stickers on their trucks. If you’re a ‘prepper’ or survivalist or milita member, your job is first networking then brand creation, and in doing so, creating solid brand ambassadors. It’s not nearly as hard as you think, but it goes far beyond running around in kit with an M4gery or posturing yourself at someone else’s party in front of the opposition’s propaganda machine. If you want to win, effective propaganda is required. There’s no way around it.
Reblogged this on Starvin Larry.
Reblogged this on The Tactical Hermit.
There is another dimension aside from all the salient points you made above NCScout.
…somebody put it pretty good,
A very experienced action guy once told me the key to successful propaganda:
Tell the truth, and help people to see it as such.
I really have no vision of what propaganda or marketing would work in America for Patriots, maybe there is nothing in particular, and maybe there isn’t any, because maybe what American patriotism, Liberty, primal God given rights constitute is something where the standard revolutionary operating procedures do not work or are not the right kind of message. And maybe that is indicative of the kind of resistance required to defy and win against the marxists and all involved.
So maybe it is comparing apples to oranges.
Lets say my insights are valid in some way. (And I am not, I want to make it perfectly clear, arguing your observations, experiences, and knowledge is wrong, I’m saying I’m thinking in X while others are thinking in Y here).
OK, so, I say you are right in something, that you said above, that from what you wrote, pointed to, but was not implied as specific, and that was regarding hearts and minds, that it begins with each of us. Bravo! I think right there you hit the nail on the head.
So lets go to another level, or look at it in context or contrast if you will, to the other items you listed as standard revolutionary propaganda fair in other places and times.
I’ll go out on a limb, use myself and my insights and start cutting.
Me, I believe there is no need for propaganda, at least not of a style and practice as used by revolutionaries not of the American Patriot mold. It is a difficult thing to qualify, and quantify, but it exists. I think it has everything to do with the tolerance and character, absolutely to do with culture of this here country, I think it has to do with inherent natural born hereditary reality we are a people, for the first time in all of human history, born into liberty, regardless of our faults, in spite of the failure of the written law and intent of this republic, we are a people of freedom. It is in our blood, it is in our hearts, and in our minds.
So maybe, it doesn’t require propaganda and all, it is a Zeitgeist, it is Heuristic, (Remember, Left of Bang?), it requires a form of gestalt.
If you look at it from a perspective of right verses wrong, of good verses evil, of tyranny verses liberty, and your heart and mind, your will, is indomitable, you see the equation as you as a dirt person who has unalienable legitimacy, rights so primal they like the human terrain is always on top, that the culture of this is upstream of everything, as liberty is upstream of tyranny, and fighting for liberty, the process of it, is if it is possible, even more legitimate than all the rest.
I sit here and I think, you know these people trying to destroy my country, my culture, my freedoms, take my property, (my guns my land), my right to self defense, to self determination and self sufficiency, oh brother are they ever wrong. I don’t require convincing, no propaganda need apple, but if it is only reverse agitprop to twist the sonofabicthes dicks and let em know they will never win if I have anything to do with it.
No propaganda in the world will ever be required thank you very much. It is the truth that matters. The truth of us as a people, those of us who will not bend a knee, never say die.
and Percussa Resurgo? Oh yes, we will.
Murry Rothbard wrote: “The fundamental political question is why do people obey a government. The answer is that they tend to enslave themselves, to let themselves be governed by tyrants. Freedom from servitude comes not from violent action, but from the refusal to serve. Tyrants fall when the people withdraw their support.
That withdrawal of consent, and those who never consented to begin with? It is a kind of propaganda, it is underground, grass roots, it is message of the sublime, that is shared with a vengeance.
Consent is an interesting thing, it can only be given, it can not be taken. It’s message is one of the most recognizable acts in the sphere of human activity. It horrifies the weak, it is existential to the powerful like no other weapon man has created.
But Rothbard I believe is wrong on a particular point. The promise of threat of violent action by free men who will not comply and are not ruled by fear, becomes a necessary instrument of freedom in our case.
You want to talk American revolutionary propaganda, lets talk about one near and dear to millions. I’m pretty confident I’m not too far off if I’m wrong on this. Has to do with my disagreement with Rothbard.
Here goes, I’ll probably make a mess out of it, but in for a penny, in for a pound:
Lets call my perspective open source leaderless propaganda. Right know there is a message being sent by a huge plurality of American’s, it is, pardon my french, The Great F&%k Y*$, it has taken the form of millions upon millions of American’s arming, equipping, and training themselves in the honorable art of self defense from tyrants and their tyranny. Of course, not everyone equipping themselves is doing so for the reasons above, but it is not beyond the realm of the reasonable that out of a country of 334,000,000 million people, 1 % are. And lets say another 5-10 million are having thoughts about it, it is at least something they have considered to some degree or another, and then there is some millions, who for a myriad of reasons, would not or could not so arm and prepare themselves, but they sure agree with it and understand the reasons for it.
What do we have here? Lets be conservative for the sake of realistic argument, what 3 million, plus 5 million, lets say another 5 million in the last group of American’s, that is 13 million people who have no need of propaganda or messaging to convince them, win their hearts and minds over to the cause of freedom and liberty. That is a potential revolutionary insurgency of 13 million people. I’d say Deash is not even Jr, Varsity.
Would you NCScout want to go up against an insurgency of that size? Do you think, after your experience in the mideast and the Balkin’s, with the US military you know first hand and it’s capabilities in a country like ours, with the smarts, motive power, industriousness and ingenuity that American’s are rightfully famous for? Do you think you could win against such a revolutionary people so armed and motivated?
Do we even need propaganda and a message?
Telling the truth is propaganda. All MEDIA IS PROPAGANDA. Truth, ‘your truth’, as you define it, is counter propaganda. You have to get it out there too, or any movement of any stripe fails. Period.
And that’s the bottom line.
Further, who defines truth? How is truth quantified? It’s not. Only through effective marketing can you get your brand out there. On that note, with simple ‘truth’, how the hell do you recruit? You can’t. A movement needs perpetual membership, and has to recruit into it’s action arms in order to continue. If not, at some point, when your troops are shot to piss and the supplies run out along with morale, you fail.
And the ‘Patriot’ movement has been failing, like it or not, for failure to recognize any of these issues. As long as half cocked standoffs and chest thumping baseless bravado continues, it’s not going to go anywhere. And every rancher, farmer, cattleman, concerned veteran, gun owner and eventually Christian out there is going to be marginalized and exterminated.
So take my advice. Or don’t. I don’t devote my time to writing this because I like it.
Sure certain aspects of the overt liberty movement has been failing. Liberty in the hearts and minds of people isn’t. We wouldn’t be having conversations like this if it was a failed cause. I don’t think “branding” works either, as you say yourself, when it comes to fighting for liberty. Look at the butchering “The III%” has taken, the so called militia movement of the clinton regime era, even the Tea Party, they haven’t worked. No great loss, if they didn’t work as hoped they aren’t worth pursuing any longer and it is time to adapt, improvise and pursue other methods and ways. Regardless of their failings, the ideas behind them are as valid and worthy as ever, and most involved have gone back underground, the motive power of those ideas has evolved. And ideas are powerful things. As you say yourself so well, the human terrain is always on top.
I see and whole heartedly agree with you and what your saying about propaganda.
Yet there is another dynamic here that counts. It is ideas verses propaganda.
Allow me to define that. If my view of history is fractionally reasonable, many so called revolutions are proxies for somebody else’s agenda. The Russian revolution, Mao’s great revolution, Black Lives Matter, The Long March of the Fabian’s and their decedent the cultural marxists of this nation, they are proxies of ulterior agenda and ideologies, correct? Right there from the start, such a resistance requires propaganda, because it is a false paradigm to begin with, it has nothing else. You have to con and bullshit people into going along with your narratives and game plan.
Lets take Deash as an example, ISIS is a proxy for what, the Wahhabist’s, and by extension the special interests of the neo-cons, of the so called special interests of corruption of the military industrial complex pax americana in a phrase. Is it unreasonable to suggest because of the falsity, the ideology or special interest notwithstanding, of their “cause”, the bastards involved have to lie about what and who they are and why they are fighting an insurgency war? Under the further guise of a “religion”, (which islam is not).
To me, cultural marxism is like Schrodingers Cat: a bunch of pathological idiots trying bullshit the rest of us with an assumption of some irrelevant retarded alternative reality using false narratives and propaganda. What does a guy like me need with propaganda, I’m a dirt person, a welder in a coal mine with a seventh grade formal education. There is millions like me who smell a rat, as Patrick Henry put it succinctly. We know what side our bread is buttered on. All guys like me need is a fighting chance, the little edges that make the difference, like what you provide on your blog.
I’m a happy dirt person warrior. I want to talk about this stuff, so I got it straight, to be sure that when the time comes my resolve is true, and if I got to die, I die knowing I am totally legitimate in my cause of freedom. That’s all. I got no need for things like the oath keepers or the 3% branding or propaganda, I already hold the catechisms, the ideas of those things important.
Cultural Marxists make a big mistake, they believe they have special privilege to shape the cultural battlefield, it’s 24/7/365 propaganda, memes and narratives, it is the way of how they rule people, but they have robbed this culture of everything visible and symbolic, this culture is no longer in their power – it is free again.
Sure there are chest beaters, half cocked standoffs, but there are a whole lot more principled people who keep their ear to the ground, stay left of bang, and keep their powder dry.
Are you aware of the zeitgeist called The Alt-Right and what is taking place regarding it of late? It is a sublime insurgency, just it’s existence has become propaganda, it is a narrative agitprop in itself. It is driving the cultural marxist and the cucks bat shit crazy.
To me it is the equation of the human terrain balancing itself.
All I know for sure is resistance is never futile, that it is always the dirt people who rescue humanity from itself, from tyrants and tyranny time and time again, that it all begins with each of us, and what is really happening is not a revolution because of arms or civil war, but an evolution in honesty and first principles, that without virtue, without integrity of the man first, without facing the harsh realities of the predicament we are in in this country, we will never be freemen, we can only have our liberty and the primal freedoms, the component parts of living as a sovereign man, if we become that man who not only looks the truth straight in the eyes and never flinches, but goes after the truth with a bone in our teeth and a rifle in our hands, and in this way we all become leaders, ambassadors of liberty, and then we set the bar, the standard for others to aspire to and follow or become leaders in each his own way… This is the indomitable thing, it can not be stopped, it is called winning.…..The only thing more dangerous than fighting our tyrannical corrupt government that has amassed unlimited resources against us freemen; this tyrannical corrupt government facing an awakened citizenry who face the unlimited power of and truth they have their liberty and freedoms within their hands and always have.
Taking your definition of what propaganda is, dead nuts seriously, can I suggest this here is a piece of propaganda, a superlative piece of propaganda:
[EDITED AND NOTE- DON’T QUOTE COMMENTERS FROM OTHER BLOGS. YOU’LL PISS ME OFF ROYALLY.]
Ok…how far has the ‘liberty’ movement gotten doing it the way they’re doing it?
crickets…crickets…
First, let’s not quote commenters from one blog to another. Lots of reasons for this…but bottom line, those belong there, I allow what I allow here. I don’t know that person nor what their qualification or experience may be, nor do I take ANY internet commenting seriously. This is a blog to be operationalized and used, based upon experience. End of story.
To the talking points-
The Liberty movement has not ‘failed’- in fact, it’s never been stronger, at least in rhetoric. But where has that gotten? The problem is that it’s reaching critical mass, and as anyone who’s studied Nationalist movements (because that’s what this is) in the past can tell you, it needs several things or it will fail from the get-go…and then it won’t get fixed. The action arm is but one arm. That’s all that seems to get focus, and long story short, that’s the least important part of the puzzle. The same goals can be accomplished with a .22 as can be with a tricked out AR.
But that fact gets missed. Because we all wanna ‘look cool’.
Second point. You don’t know what you don’t know about the Left at the macro-level (very, very few do…and I’ll attempt to rectify this in the coming days) and it shows. As far as ‘alt-right’ comments are concerned, it’s simply a stage-setting by the Carville crowd to recreate the success they had in the 90s doing the same. exact. thing. (but then it was the ‘militias’; different word, same label- dissenting ‘other’).
So, with that being said, why the hell is it you suppose I even wasted my damn time writing a 1300 word essay on effective propaganda? Is it because I like to do so? I sure as shit don’t get paid for it, and don’t intend to either like some of the others that see this stuff as a business. It might be, just maybe, because I see what’s on the horizon, because my professional experience and educational discipline tells me so, and quite possibly, I give a shit about the future. Some of us know shit that you don’t.
Like I said, you can take it or leave it. But I know how this works in the real world, and until the ‘militia’ crowd figures out some truths of real insurgencies and how that goes, it’s going to continue to be painted in a corner, ridiculed, and killed off like a damaged brand.
I think you cut off somewhere-
But, the issue of ‘propaganda’ is very simple.
And people, in my experience, are never undecided AND willing to think.
There are several ways to approach this issue.
One is a forthright statement of principles. This usually gets nowhere, except in rare instances where people are both genuinely undecided and willing to think. Most people’s political preconceptions are pretty well set, and a direct challenge to those is simply not-heard, ignored, rejected as if it had never been said. When coupled with derogatory statements, it make neutrals into enemies. THIS IS WHAT IS BEING DONE BY FAR TOO MANY in the Liberty movement. As pointed out, this approach is NOT working.
Another is to ask questions, and to induce, wherever possible, severe cognitive dissonance in the target. This can be effective even against true believers who have been enculturated with Marxist philosophy. I was once targeted by a group of Moonies for a love-bombing, way back in the 1970s when I was attending a large Eastern US university. At first, the women had huge smiles, with large dreamy pupils. I distinctly recall the large pupils. After over an hour of discussion, the large pupils of the (very attractive!) young females had contracted, the smiles were gone, and by the end of the discussion, they were asking intelligent questions about philosophy and the nature of man. The older group leader who had wandered off for a while with some of the others looking for more recruits, came back and immediately discerned that I was a losing proposition. I recall that he had some difficulty disengaging his crew, at least one of whom was protesting that she did not want to leave. (Those interested in the techniques employed can get more information at this link- http://www.icsahome.com/articles/brainwashing-and-the-moonies-galanti-csj-1-1-1984)
Which brings up another point; despite my having engendered severe dissonance, the young woman above DID leave, her protests notwithstanding. My primary function at this point was intellectual self-defense; I had no idea that I would run into a pack of Moonies. After I understood what was going on, I did attempt to engage as many of them as possible, with the thought that if they were busy with me, that they would not be able to seduce some other younger innocent, but I had no thought at the time for the possibility that *I* might convert *them*.
If you are attempting targeted cognitive dissonance, it is most effective when you do this one on one, in a non-threatening environment, and in a very reasonable and friendly manner. You do not want to let your target get alarmed; delaying the ‘fight or flight’ response is your goal, in order to maximize the effect of your calm questions, and to raise as much doubt in the mind of your target as you can. Make it a social occasion if possible, during a break over coffee, for example.
Still another method is to present contrasting world views, either through fiction, or as a “what sort of world do you want to live in” thought puzzle. For short contacts, I ask things like- “Wouldn’t it be great if gasoline were 25 cents a gallon?’ (another favorite is- “I remember when a Hershey bar was a dime; wouldn’t that be great?”) When I get a yes, as I almost always do, then I follow up by saying, “well, it is, in 1964 money!” and go on to explain the hidden tax of monetary inflation and the role of the Federal Reserve in impoverishing the American middle class. I keep a silver dollar along with a paper dollar and a twenty in my wallet for just such discussions. These are often fruitful, and once the seeds are sown, there can be value in presenting pro-liberty fiction as a follow-up.
Yet another is to try to enculturate your target with the culture of liberty. I see this often in the gun culture, where someone who is interested in shooting becomes exposed to a whole new world of freedom and individual self reliance. One of my friends was a hard-core East Coast liberal Jew who did not own a firearm, some years back. After a few trips to the range and some time discussing politics and philosophy, he pulled a Galt, retired, and moved to the intermountain west with his large gun collection. I’ll call that a win for FreeFor.
Isn’t presenting an attractive alternate to the present police state a vital part of what the liberty movement must do? Isn’t encouraging people to question their programming equally vital? Aren’t you more likely to gain allies by encouraging and helping them learn to think for themselves? Isn’t the old saying “ you catch more flies with honey than vinegar” true?
What gets more brain activity, asking questions or making statements?
What is the function of Government?
Who benefits?
What happens to an organism that consumes more than it produces?
What was Einstein’s definition of insanity?
If I had a dollar for each of those conversations….well…my car would be paid for 😉
Exactly on point, Historian.
I think there are a lot of issues working against Western liberty besides lack of effective marketing by the pro-freedom side. Most Western people have endless technological distractions, relative safety, and are fed well. As Martin Van Creveld wrote in “Pussycats,” our upbringing is not conducive to life as an irregular like those who grow up in Muslim countries and become mujahideen. Most of our men are cowards.
That said, most Westerners nowadays lack a sense of belonging, and increasingly a sense of safety and financial security. Trump has effectively tapped into the American need for belonging to America: America for Americans, not everyone else. Corporations and governments are increasingly bringing foreigners here just to dilute our voice. THis is causing deep resentment amongst Americans that could be tapped through effective propaganda (rhetoric). A leaderless, distributed movement could be effective if it wasn’t coopted as the GOP coopted the Tea Party.
I’m not sure the time is right. Americans don’t know what they want other than that the foreigners get out and we return to some level of post-WWII governmental sanity. However, Americans are very distracted and not very brave and believe the lies the government tells them, save for the few already in the Freedom movement.
This is a mostly ignored aspect of the American resistance (such as it is) and in reality it should be the most important. We will not and cannot create a cohesive idea to base a movement upon in the people who lean toward the Liberty end of the spectrum without the proper marketing.
Trump touched a nerve in this demographic and the anger among those I speak of above is increasing in its level and in numbers. The “left” is doing everything it can to spread the message that these people are (fill in the blank with the negative of your choice). Alt-Right is the latest moniker thrown out, now those in the middle will be likely to dismiss the Alt-Right as extremest instead of realizing that the ideas espoused by AR probably fits them. Marketing.
We can either get it or not, but “they” certainly do. -55six
Bingo.
Especially that last bit about the new boogie man they’ve named off. If you don’t think that label is coming for me, you, and everyone else not towing the -ista line, you got another thing coming.
I am losing more hope by the day that anything resembling a real push back can ever occur, and you know why that is? Because the people on “our side” can’t unfuck themselves long enough to even come together on simple concepts, much less an idea that takes as much working together as marketing a clear message.
The absolute CF that happens/happened when CA brings SFC Barry in to describe such a basic concept as roles in staff personnel is just one example. The dumbassery exhibited will make your gums bleed.
Time is short. Unless I miss my guess we will have Cankles taking the reins in January and this means public enemy number one will be people like you and me. FreeFor is more concerned with tearing at each other’s nits than mounting a respectable counter (culturally, physically, spiritually) and will stand on their little hills shouting their nuanced ideology while it all burns down around them.
“They” have no such issues, “they” just know that the individualists must be destroyed, and they are absolutely winning. “We” are preaching to a choir that all have on earpro and are all singing different songs.
-55six
Well, on that, a couple things.
First, the Right is rooted in those satisfied with the status-quo. This leads to a mood of complacency, even when they’re not happy, as we see today. Hence, rallies and posturing, until a catalyst turns them violent. The Left, on the other hand, is rooted in Marx’s perpetual Conflict theory, made of people not happy with the status quo, and thus consistently take action, organize, and work toward a common goal. Without studying the philosophy of the Left, which I bet my life that almost 100% of the prepper/survivalist/militia crowd has not taken the time to do, this crowd is doomed to repeat the failures of past attempts. Standoffs are a really good indicator that I’m right.
Which brings me to my next point- a guerrilla model does not have to directly reflect a military model. The basics- Action, Direction, Intelligence, Logistics- MUST be covered, but as far as neat little ranks and neat little flow charts, no.
And as far as commentators go, let that flow in one ear and out the other. Or better yet don’t even read it. Not worth anyone’s time; and a little hint, most probably aren’t on our side to begin with.
http://youtu.be/eY4KrLA3ZvY
#Winning
The university system at work.
I would add to the discussion above that even the French and American revolutions relied HEAVILY on propaganda to finally get the masses to at least pay attention. Propaganda isn’t for the would be Patriot but for the guy who isn’t paying attention. Normalcy bias is firmly in control of even those “awake” souls much more so the average guy/gal in the middle of the spectrum. All of the little revolutions and insurgencies I know of used it to much effect. To discount it’s impact is going to get us nowhere.
Blogs for all their good have hurt the older forms of agitprop that used to be the norm such as flyers, speeches in public places and inroads into mainstream media. There are some brilliant bloggers who are satisfied with their outlet but the problem is that Joe Shmoe isn’t looking for the blog nor knows of its existence.
Where does this leave us? At square one compared to the “left” I am afraid. -55six
Bingo, yet again. You sir ‘get it’.
Everything was propagandized- on both sides, both offensively and defensively. Much of it was aimed at governing entities of the belligerents, citing economic insolvencies, faulty supply chains, and raising ethical dilemmas, but also targeted the leadership capabilities of the commanders in the eyes of their troops. The latter was used to great effect against Washington, and nearly broke him more than once.
That said, little has changed as time has passed aside from the manner in which it is conveyed. Drudge, Breitbart, et al, are all propaganda outlets on the Right, and they work. The problem is that they serve the needs of the macro level, and for local subversive use, something smaller is needed.
Some places have this. But the Left is very, very good at this. Far better than the Right; the Tea Party movement was good step in the right direction but it made two fatal mistakes- allowing itself to be co-opted (which directly caused all the IRS trouble- both Republicans and Democrats saw them as a threat) and attempting to get too big, too quick.
I’m not one to bash blogs for obvious reasons- in addition, it’s quick, cheap, and is little risk. But it’s Interior Propaganda. I’m not winning over any Bernie fans with what I do here, and I’m not trying to either. The Libertarians are too busy doing that.
We’re not exactly at square one- I’m not a nihilist. But greater effort needs to be put forth to paying attention to the propaganda process, because it’s damn near the most important part of a insurgent movement.
Homie,
Little Outlander read this when it was still a new release, back when he was a young, obnoxious Cyberpunk, filled-to-the-brim-with-piss-n-vinegar, incessantly listening to heavy metal, chasing skirts, and laughing at calls to front-leaning-rest position.
While the better part of two decades have gone by, the concepts remain the same. Coercion is a science, and the application of it is an art form.
Highly, HIGHLY recommended:
https://www.amazon.com/Coercion-Why-Listen-What-They/dp/157322829X
PSYOPS is a military term for marketing.
The fundamentals are the same. The goal is to influence someone’s decision-making process.
The Left will never be won over by reason; an appeal to emotion is the only avenue of approach. They are also, generally, highly conformist; though they would deny this to their core.
An effective vector would be through a combination of ridicule, and “cool.”
Ridicule that which is absurd, make “cool” the tenets of self-determination and Liberty.
There’s plenty of ridicule being thrown around; however, it’s for an internal audience.
To paraphrase a quote from the linked book, and if I blow it, I blow it, but it’s been a LONG time since I’ve read it, and it’s since been loaned out, only to never return:
“The mass media eats counter-culture movements for breakfast.” -Douglas Rushkoff
Exactly!
A good long while ago, the first time I attended a school of higher ed, the department head of Sociology taught the intro Soc class to all us prospective social observers. His class was, interesting, to say the least, but one takeaway that he gave all the counter-culture types was “you’re in more of a uniform than the ROTC guys.” The look they had was priceless- this guy, their ally, the big bad social justice marxist poet just cut them off at the knees.
The cornerstone of the Left is intellectual superiority, and through humor this hubris is thus challenged. And trust me, Mike is dead-on. They hate it.
Okay guys. So if mass media eats them, how about where we stand now? The mass media that Joe S Ragman bothers to watch is filled to the brim with content created to demoralize and desensitize. From home security alarm commercials to cartoons, it’s being wielded by opfor.
This little recent stunt by the football player regarding the national anthem is a chink in the armor. Things like that still piss off the people that we want awake and pulling for our side.
Trouble is I have not the slightest idea of how to weapon use the situation. How do we get it out to where people see it, think, and then decide to see a little bit more?
Get out in your community and meet people, find out what they need, and what they want.
Meet those needs on a local level and forget the big stuff.
The attitude of the Left could best be described as smug, self-righteous pride. The fragility of this “pride” is rarely discussed, but it’s delicate, and deep down, they know it to be so.
HUBRIS.
LFmayor:
I can’t comment for NCScout, but my perspective is that:
Given the current societal trajectory, forget national issues; ultimately they’re irrelevant. As we continue to decay on a moral and economic level, it’ll take care of itself.
Like NCScout said, local is, was, and always will be relevant.
Christmas is coming. Between now and then, find a family, or single mom who’s struggling, and get her kids’ Christmas list.
HoHoHo – you’re now Santa Claus.
Take it from there.
*If that’s not financially possible, get together with some buddies, skip the fantasy football bullshit, and each kick in $20 to buy the kids some presents.
My thoughts almost exactly.
Affairs of the nation are a bit too much, a bit too abstract and a bit too late. But locally, where real people are affected by real and relevant issues, one can do a lot.
If each of us bent 80% of the effort we each are willing to spend towards dealing with our own backyards, with the rest towards state and federal issues, we’d be a lot better off. This is not to disparage the importance of ideas and culture, but to be effective, ideas need to find fertile ground, and reproduce. If each of us managed to help bring one other family towards a real world realization of how life is supposed to be, we’d be well on the way to winning the war of ideas
Yep.
It’s truly a shame this is not getting more play. There’s some really, really good stuff here, like that guy in the mid-90’s saying ‘hey we should really get a handle on this OBL guy’ level of good stuff. Propaganda/media can be a matter of semantics, and to a certain extent determined by a) the verifiability of the facts and b) the lens through which both the writer and reader view it. Again, the comment section serves to illustrate how we can’t even agree on a term that has absolutely no real significance to what we want to get done. Call it whatever you want, just get to work! One man’s D-Day is another man’s foreign invasion. Either way, this message needs to be shouted loud and clear, and the clue bat used early and often. I’m glad to see you and others pushing towards unity, because if BLM can do it inside of 2 years, there’s absolutely no excuse for the patriot movement.
As to blogs, you are correct. Here’s an alternative to that idea. As much as I hate it, FB particularly lends itself to reaching those not on the ‘inside,’ as it were. Couple of bucks in advertising the page and some good admins and your followers do much of the dissemination for you. Granted it is subject to censorship, but it’s an idea. I’m sure the secret squirrels won’t like it, but I’m to the point where the Edison method seems about right. Keep breaking stuff until you find something that does work and stop listening to those helpful people assuring me nothing will ever work.
I appreciate the kind words. There’s a second part to this (which is coming inside of this week) that’s going to sharpen the point.
As for the comments here, well, this was part informative and part thought experiment in order to gauge a few things. First, the problem with ‘truth’. Truth is philosophical, fact is concrete. There’s quite a difference. Second, not undercutting anyone, but there’s way too much ‘attaboy’ patting of the back for absolutely nothing. Someone puts on a rant and everyone cheers, like the drunk on a barstool cursing his boss, it fixes nothing come monday morning. Third, and this is the big one, that many in the Patriot community have very little understanding of what I reference as ‘interior’ propaganda really is, or how to counter it, in the physical sense. FB is one way, I agree, but also has been exposed as subject to censorship and can be edited beyond the author’s control. But even social media serves little other purpose than devolving into name calling and circular reasoning.
Whether the West likes it or not, ISIS is a brand. A very well-done brand. And whether we like it or not, that derogatory label is applied to us too, and the examples are numerous. (Anyone remember LCDR Montell calling the Malhuer guys the ‘american taliban’? I do. And that’s a good insight to how the left thinks, and a predictor of the next step.)
The reaction of the Right is continuing to illustrate how the Left defines us- as reactionary inside the Conflict Paradigm of Sociology, aka Marxism. Too many working class joes are assuming that people will simply flock to their side- and this is absolutely not the case, unless steps are taken now.
Reblogged this on The Virginia Freeman's Society.