SOME TACTICAL REFLECTIONS

by L. Neil Smith

[Author's note:  these observations derive from 34 years' experience
as a libertarian activist as well as a personal struggle against gun
control which has lasted almost as long.  I write novels and never
thought of myself as an aphorist, but these seemed to congeal out of
thin air after I read a biography of Admiral Lord Nelson as part of
my research for _Henry Martyn_.]

If you're not a little bit uncomfortable with your position, it
isn't radical enough.  How can you be _too_ principled?  Take the
most extreme position you can -- you're claiming territory you won't
have to fight for later, mostly against your "allies".

Let the _other guy_ offer compromises.  Think of them as rungs
on a ladder.  Keep your own goals fixed firmly in your mind and make
sure you never move any direction but upward.  That's how the other
side got where they are.  It works.

Never aim at _anything_ but total achievement of your goal:  the
utter capitulation of the enemy.  Every effort involves inertia and
mechanical losses, so adopting any lesser objective means partial
defeat.  Total victory means you don't have to fight the same fight
again tomorrow.

Second thoughts, failures of confidence, nervous last-minute
course-changes are all detours and recipes for defeat.  The time to
think is _before_ the battle -- if possible, before the _war_ -- not
in the heat of it.

The shortest path to victory is a _straight line_.  He who
remains most consistent wins.

Go straight to the heart of the enemy's _greatest strength_.
Break that and you break him.  You can always mop up the flanks and
stragglers later, and they may even surrender, saving you a lot of
effort.

Always attack in _perpendicular_ fashion, from an unconventional
and unexpected (but relevant) direction.  The enemy will be
unprepared; you can strike him with your full strength while he
finds nothing to attack effectively.

Remain the judge of your own actions.  Never surrender that
position by default.  When the enemy screams "Foul!" the loudest,
you know you're doing him the most damage.  Those who _help_ him
scream are also the enemy.

If you can avoid it, never play on the other guy's field, by the
other guy's rules, or with the other guy's ball.  He didn't design
_his_ system to give _you_ the advantage.  Remember that organisms
defending their own territory are twice as effective as an intruding
attacker.

You may never convince the other guy, but it's often worthwhile to keep
arguing for the effect it has on bystanders, especially his _allies_.

Well-timed silence is an effective bargainer.  Most people fear
silence at a level below conscious analysis, and rush to fill the
emptiness with _accommodation_.  A difficult tactic to learn and
use, but it works.

The more fundamental position is the highest ground, allowing
the most "perpendicular" attack.  If he argues politics, argue
ethics -- things seldom go beyond this stage.  If he argues ethics,
argue epistemology (look it up).  If he argues epistemology, argue
metaphysics.  If he argues metaphysics, you're up against Darth
Vader and you're in trouble.  Switch back to politics and accuse him
of being out of touch with everyday reality.  Or ask him if he's
stopped beating his wife.

Conservatives are accustomed to being called fascists and are
well prepared to defend themselves on that ground.  Liberals are
used to being called socialists.  Those labels can be _switched_,
however, and remain valid and instructive.  It also catches them
completely unprepared.

Understand from the minute the fight begins that you're going to
take damage.  Accept it.  (You'll always suffer more from the idiots
and cowards on your _own_ side than from any enemy.)  Keep your
overall goal in mind above all.  Those who swerve to avoid a few
cuts and bruises defeat themselves.

If you lose, go down _fighting_.  It costs nothing extra, and
now and again ...

Know down to the last cell in your body that the _other guy_
started it.  He's the one who put things in an ethical context where
considerations like decency and mercy have no referent. The less
pity moves you now, the sooner you can go back to being a nice guy.

Otherhandwise, the easiest, most humiliating path to defeat is
thinking that to beat the enemy you must be _like_ him.  Avoid the
temptation to set your values aside "for the duration". What's the
point of fighting if you give up what you're fighting for?  If
remaining consistent with your values leads to defeat, you chose
the wrong values to begin with.

Truth is a valuable commodity which you don't automatically owe to
anyone.  Remember, however, that lies are even more expensive --
they're tiring and costly to maintain -- and even a tiny one can
utterly _destroy_ you.

Never soft-pedal the truth.  It's seldom self-evident and almost
_never_ sells itself, because there's less sales resistance to a
glib and comforting lie.

Lies can be custom-tailored; truth comes straight off the rack
-- one size fits all.  (This gem by my wife, Cathy L.Z. Smith.)

Those who lead through authority have rivals on whom they must
expend as much energy and attention as they do on their enemies.
Those who lead by example have _enemies_, but no rivals.