Somewhere between pacifism that is just passivism and starting a pyrrhic hot war that only entrenches authoritarianism, there’s some kind of jiu jitsu here that is active and forceful resistance, but uses the regime’s own force against them.

I do not pretend to know what exactly that is. I do believe that a diversity of tactics is important — and that we’re all going to have to accept the work of holding ourselves together as a resistance even as people choose very different tactics we’re not comfortable with ourselves.

@inthehandsPaul Cantrell I'm going suggest reading the first half of "Learning to Eat Soup with a Knife" by Col. John Nagl. amazon.com/Learning-Eat-Soup-K You're essentially fighting an insurgency of well-equipped fanatics who lack local support, logistics, and discipline. Nagl is smart, he revised the Army's counterinsurgency manual, and he compares how the British in Malaysia effectively defeated communist insurgents while still keeping the public on their side.

The book is not so much on military operation but on winning hearts and minds, showing how one army did and another army didn't in very similar conflicts.

That's essentially your challenge - direct armed confrontation will not work, surrender will not work, but the current tactics seem to slowly be working. Tracking them, getting in their way, goading them til they lose discipline, not letting them have a good night's rest, pressuring companies not to do business with them - all that corrodes their morale. The danger is someone else will snap and shoot another poet in the face again. But they've already proven they'll do that casually so there's really no additional risk.

They're an occupying force. Make them feel that every day until they leave. Make every Minnesota winter day that much colder and more miserable for them. Be like the northern Midwest winter and make them hate life.

0

If you have a fediverse account, you can quote this note from your own instance. Search https://oldbytes.space/users/arclight/statuses/115903091199745213 on your instance and quote it. (Note that quoting is not supported in Mastodon.)