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From: mouse@network.ucsd.edu (September)
Newsgroups: alt.religion.scientology,alt.conspiracy
Subject: How to Wreck Things
Date: Thu, 02 Nov 1995 23:37:46 +0300
Organization: Damaged Mice
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                             the way it can be done

These are some of the ways to insinuate destructive or dispersing elements
within a community that is already at odds with the mainstream, forcing it
to go mainstream or fold; the reasons to do this are many: a
counterculture feeds from a seperate trough from the main, and monitoring
two cultures that oppose one another, especially if one is inherantly
desposed to independence, is a difficult task.  Opponents may introduce
elements to the counterculture that render their condition volatile. 
Witness the Yippies, who were pro-Castro, in the Sixties.

0. Inhabit common points of communication and meeting.  At first ask
friends to observe for you but make sure they're clear how not to make
themselves obvious.  Later, these friends may introduce the active
operators.

1.  Ask so many questions that the definitions and philosophy of the
community looks inexplicable -- if there is no apparent definition or
philosophy, then this community is only defensible so long as it's very
tightly even invisibly interwoven.

2.  Splinter the group with a variety of self-definitions or too
oppressive a group definition.  In every group there is a sense of
group-identity and individual identity and a set of things which bind the
two: in most counterculture communities, this set is composed of the
music, and to a lesser extent, the clothing.  If the majority of members
have a very high sense of belonging, propriety, and ritual, those who do
not might feel indignant and seperate themselves in a variety of ways and
degrees from the community -- or try harder to subvert their own
individuality in order to belong, depending entirely on their feelings of
self worth and their feeling of affiliation with other communities.  The
images and ideals of the community can be turned against it.

3.  If the above situation (2) already exists, then point out the rigid
and binding expectations that clearly exist without explaining why they
might be necessary to keep group cohesion.  Any entity showing loyalty may
be treated with alternating good cop/bad cop scenarios in order to break
their morale or in the case of groups, infiltrated and instilled with
feelings of internal discontinuity.

4.  In the way Malcolm MacLaren embodied the so-called "death" of Punk by
confronting the rebellion with the images they've hated and showing them
these images are at their very roots.  The irony, or reverse, of this
method is to shift the roots and the ideals of the community at the same
time, by creating dissention as to the history and identity; this is easy,
as most records are kept by the mainstream and countercultures transmit
experiences orally.  At its essence, nonrecorded history is even more
malleable and open to interpetation than the sort which is carefully
recorded.

5.  Find enemies of that community that already exist and set them against
the community, especially if these enemies are disturbing the operator of
these methods.  Enemies can be manufactured by confronting them with
artificial members of the targeted community; if you're trying to get dogs
to hate mice, dress up a hamster as a mouse and get the hamster to act
like the more obnoxious brand of mice.

6.  Of primary importance is to distract the community, especially those
who stand to offer friendly, critical interpetation.  This is fairly
simple to do; there should be distractions enough, considering that the
counterculture is already at odds with their host culture.  Each
commentator or observer usually expresses themselves as much as they
express what they notice.  They will likely tell you what bothers or
fascinates them: use it.

7.  To insure no one connects the source of these attacks, one may make
some of these activities seem as entertaining or even rote behaviour. 
Find a person whose condition makes them feel spiteful and angry and give
them a position of power in the aforementioned meeting places and also one
or two friends who have an amount of power or some means of compelling
others to desire friendly interaction with them.

Other methods can be invented.  Use your imagination.  Go team.

                                    sweetness,
                                    september

