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Fukitol's avatar

I'm all in on this. I just wish I could see a clear path to victory here. I hope the local strategy will work, but hope is all it is so far. I don't like being in a position of having no better ideas but lacking confidence in the one we have.

Wasn't life easier when we had all the answers and didn't have to do anything?

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GregL's avatar

>> I’m going to work under the assumption that this approach to fighting the State is the perfect path forward and to defend the mentality of those running for office.

I know you’re just making this assumption for the sake of argument, but I don’t think it’s a very realistic assumption.

Of course, you know this already, but just to be clear, there are multiple strategies of resistance available, and I think any or all of them have some merit. Exactly which strategies you prefer and how much to emphasize each strategy, will differ for different people depending on their situations, what skills they have, what kind of resources they have, their temperament, etc.

There are exceptions, but politics, even local politics tends to reward demagogues, and that tends to make it a harder battleground for the kinds of people who value liberty, and who typically have skills and values that are anathema to demagoguery. On the other hand, there are advantages from engaging in politics even if you don’t win the election. For instance, your campaign might open some minds, or sway some powerful people, or introduce you to some valuable contacts.

When the adversaries have different strengths and weaknesses, it’s important to choose an asymmetric strategy. To me, one of the most interesting ways of taking advantage of asymmetric strategies to resist oppression, is through some sort of cyberwarfare or sabotage similar to what groups like Anonymous engage in. Oppressors typically have large databases and complex systems that they have to expend large amounts of resources to protect. Attackers, on the other hand, while they need to have good technical skills, require only a minimal budget.

I’m not arguing that engaging in politics is immoral or ineffective; just that there are lots of other strategies as well, and which ones you choose to emphasize will depend on your objectives and lots of other factors.

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