My Tao - War Tactics

It has always been the case that many people want nothing more than to leach off of other people's labor and capital. They see their fellow men as potential cattle that can be harassed into paying tribute to themselves. As potential victims, we can either subject ourselves to their rule or stand up for ourselves. If we prostrate ourselves, we will be harassed at a fairly tolerable level. If we resist, we risk serious consequences. Most people choose therefore to pay their taxes and do things according to the rules of local bureaucrats. However, everyone wants to keep their taxes as low as possible. There's therefore always some level of resistance to the oppressors, but only a relatively small group of people act deliberately to free themselves from the system. These people want neither to rule nor to be ruled. They want to be masters of their own realm, which they limit to what they themselves own and control through voluntary agreements. As such, they are constantly at war with the system. However, they are not stupid. They act rationally and deliberately. They are mindful of what they are doing.

The default position of the liberty minded citizen is defensive. We do not riot in the streets. We do not make a fuss. We retreat when things around us move towards tyranny. When dark clouds appear at the horizon, we sell as much as possible of that which tyrannical powers can access. When I sensed an oncoming storm back in 2016, I started to unwind my positions. I sold my house in Norway, distributed productive capital to my children, and retreated to Portugal with a gold stash for myself and my nearest.

In dark times like these, we lay low. We make sure we're on friendly terms with our neighbors. We greet everybody with kind hellos. We talk to people, and we show empathy. We mingle and blend in with those around us. We're modest in all our ways. My invisibility cloak is an old worn out jacket that I refuse to toss away. A patina of lost grace is the perfect camouflage. No one suspect by simply looking at me that I might be in possession of anything valuable.

The flat where we live is similarly modest. It's plenty comfortable enough for us, but it's in no way flashy. Truth is, there's nothing of value in our flat, and we are happy to have people over to see this for themselves. Any potential robber will target many other properties before they get so desperate that they break into our flat.

Tax records on my wife and me are similarly modest. There's nothing valuable registered with us. My wife has no debt on her flat. That may be seen as wealth these days, but that's all that we got. The taxman will most certainly target fatter cats before they try to glean any fat off of our bones.

This defensive position has reduced our tax burden significantly. It has also reduced our exposure to the system in general. We have some cash savings in a bank, but that's all. Meanwhile, gold prices are up 50% from early 2017 in most currencies.

A great advantage with a defensive position against the state is that it is less irritating to read about all the corruption that goes on in government. Since neither my wife nor I are contributing anything towards the state, we do not care that corrupt politicians mismanage funds, give money to friends, and generally piss all over people. The urge to protest and revolt is subdued, making it easy to remain in a defensive position.

However, should something really nasty happen, a defensive position may prove inadequate. There is for instance the ever-present threat of child abduction by the state. While this is extremely unlikely to happen to someone in a good defensive position, it may nevertheless happen. The CPS may act on some rumor and take our child away. If we are unable to get our child back through negotiations, we will have to take offensive measures. A plan has to be developed in which our child is rescued.

Such a plan has to be executed calmly and deliberately. It must be planned in advance. A safe place must be identified. All assets that can be reached by the state must be liquidated. Money and gold must be moved to the safe spot. Everything must be ready for when our child is taken away from its captors. We must not let the state retaliate by seizing our assets.

The trick in such a situation is to remain calm and mindful. We have to appear humble and subjugated to the state, because any indication that we are about to revolt will be met with resolute measures that complicates our rescue operation. We must resist any urge to retaliate in any way until after our rescue operation has been executed.

Once we have successfully or otherwise rescued our child, we can consider our options when it comes to revenge. Here, we need to be careful so that we don't end up brooding too much over what has happened. Anger and frustration needs to be controlled before we do anything. As the saying goes: revenge is best served cold. Also, we have to keep our ego under control. Revenge that simply serves to please our wounded egos is far less satisfying than revenge that incurs deep and lasting systemic damage. Any urge to brag about our revenge must be subdued. There's no point in letting anyone know who the perpetrators are. That simply opens up for retaliations against ourselves. Revenge is much more powerful when the ones at the receiving end have no clue as to who delivered it.

Imagine a CPS foot soldier suddenly being targeted with random vandalism. If the culprit is known, this can be dealt with. The CPS worker can call the police and get the culprit thrown in jail. However, if there's no telling who the culprit is, it could be anyone out of hundreds of people that this person has dealt with. Paranoia will set in, and the CPS worker will suffer greatly.

It may be tempting to target the big wigs. However, it is both easier and more effective to target the foot soldiers, because these are people who do not generally enjoy their work as much as the psychopaths at the top. A foot soldier will panic and suffer far more than a hardened psychopath, who might even enjoy a game of cat and mouse. But the psychopath will not like it one bit to see panic spread among clerks. Suddenly, there's a need to defend the organization and the values that the organization claims to uphold. That's a nasty, difficult job, because the foot soldiers know very well that what they are doing is wrong.

From this it's clear that we have to collect information on all people involved in any sinister plot against us. We need to identify the weak and reluctant ones. Then we have to wait before we execute any plan for revenge.

In this respect, we have a great advantage over the bureaucrats. They are few, while their victims are many. We can find out a great deal about them, while they only know vaguely about us. As long as we resist any urge to gloat and brag about what we're doing, we can inflict damage upon our adversaries without them ever finding out who's behind the vandalism. As Francis Bacon famously said: "Knowledge is power." It is in our knowledge of our oppressors that we find power to revolt and ultimately defeat them.

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