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(Prior Thread 0: LOCAL PUBLIC CORRUPTION: Introduction, Overview, Organization)
1 - (But first,) A POLITICAL ANTHROPOLOGIST LOOKS AT U.S. GUN CONTROL/RIGHTS
When I first began to notice unusual activity in the GOP primary season of 2015, and in the subsequent Democrat
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1 - (But first,) A POLITICAL ANTHROPOLOGIST LOOKS AT U.S. GUN CONTROL/RIGHTS
When I first began to notice unusual activity in the GOP primary season of 2015, and in the subsequent Democrat
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...primary season in 2016, I looked for answers to #TheEpicWTF online. Facebook was useless for this, and I quickly deleted my account once I saw they were 'helping' the 2016 fuqqery in ways that we are more cognizant of today. (Twitter was more useful for the early
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... research, so I reluctantly created a blue bird account in early 2017 to keep on top of things. #moreorless
At that time, I began to teach myself how to spot active measures campaigns; identify the two ends of the #horseshoetheory behind any suspicious event; and read
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At that time, I began to teach myself how to spot active measures campaigns; identify the two ends of the #horseshoetheory behind any suspicious event; and read
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... for foreign and domestic Kremlin-style propaganda tactics.
And then I started to teach what I was learning to friends via email. (I decided against an interactive Twitter presence back then because I was running a one-person labor-intensive business that only left me
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And then I started to teach what I was learning to friends via email. (I decided against an interactive Twitter presence back then because I was running a one-person labor-intensive business that only left me
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... about 1-2 hours of online time per day, usually in the very late PM or very early AM, and that was not very conducive to engaging with others, alas.
Initially, I tried a variety of approaches to teaching this material, but I ended up with a couple of games for
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Initially, I tried a variety of approaches to teaching this material, but I ended up with a couple of games for
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... 'grannies and ten year olds' that made identifying the components of an active measures campaign easy to spot. The idea was to make it simple and fun and easy (and gamified!) so that a 5th grader or an a-political grandparent could play. The target audience is NOT the
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... well-read political junkie. It's the rest of us. It's a beginner's level understanding of these topics.
I taught two games that worked really well for my target audiences: (1) "Name the thing BEHIND the thing," and (2) "The REAL versus the FAKE story."
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I taught two games that worked really well for my target audiences: (1) "Name the thing BEHIND the thing," and (2) "The REAL versus the FAKE story."
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To illustrate, I'll use the 2018 Parkland, Florida school shooting and the media aftermath which, on the surface, appears to be about DJT's '2nd Amendment people,' violent mass shootings in public spaces, and gun control versus gun rights. But behind the scenes, there is
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... another more telling story about what the gun control/rights debate is *really* about.
The object of the "Name the thing BEHIND the thing" game is to get people to understand that certain campaigns are not about the thing they purport to be about. It underscores the
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The object of the "Name the thing BEHIND the thing" game is to get people to understand that certain campaigns are not about the thing they purport to be about. It underscores the
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... fact that if you can readily identify a campaign and its two #horseshoetheory polarized issues, then you can know with good certainty that The Thing Behind The Thing is almost always CRIME/CRIMINALS. The specific answers to "What are the two things in this campaign?"
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... may differ if one is considering #metoo 
or #BLM or #NeverAgainMSD, but the answer to "What is the thing BEHIND these two things?" is always the same.
(Ten year olds, when they figure this out, gleefully yell out "Bad Guys!" or "Criminals!" when they catch onto this,
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or #BLM or #NeverAgainMSD, but the answer to "What is the thing BEHIND these two things?" is always the same.(Ten year olds, when they figure this out, gleefully yell out "Bad Guys!" or "Criminals!" when they catch onto this,
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... btw. #ProTip: and if you show them that this sometimes works backward into history, too -- for example, that boring ol' Prohibition was the Thing In Front, and The Thing BEHIND The Front Thing was Bad Guys! and the mob's control over the manufacture, distribution,
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... sale, and consumption of alcohol -- well, you just may have made it easy and even fun for 4th - 6th graders to tackle some aspects of US history. But I digress. 
)
First, though, you have to show the ten year olds and grannies how to tell if they are looking at an
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)First, though, you have to show the ten year olds and grannies how to tell if they are looking at an
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... inorganic media op and not just some random, organic happening.
Media/propaganda ops today have easily identified features, and these are all in evidence in the February 14, 2018 Stoneman Douglas High School shooting event and aftermath:
two easily identified,
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Media/propaganda ops today have easily identified features, and these are all in evidence in the February 14, 2018 Stoneman Douglas High School shooting event and aftermath:
two easily identified, T1/14
... polarized, politicized camps (e.g., gun rights versus gun control);
two corresponding sets of legislative prescriptions (e.g., gun violence prevention versus mental health initiatives);
a hashtag campaign (e.g., #MSDStrong and #NeverAgainMSD);
some media-
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two corresponding sets of legislative prescriptions (e.g., gun violence prevention versus mental health initiatives);a hashtag campaign (e.g., #MSDStrong and #NeverAgainMSD);some media-T1/15
...opportunistic special events (e.g., school walkouts, "March for Our Lives" and other similar demonstrations);
some new non-profit orgs (e.g., Make Schools Safe and the FAMSVARPAC Super Pac) or existing, relevant non-profits (e.g., the National Rifle Association) that
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some new non-profit orgs (e.g., Make Schools Safe and the FAMSVARPAC Super Pac) or existing, relevant non-profits (e.g., the National Rifle Association) that T1/16
... all make for excellent money-laundering entities, btw;
some crazy conspiracy theories about the initial event or its participants (for example, some student activists were labeled as 'crisis actors' by one of the polarized camps);
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some crazy conspiracy theories about the initial event or its participants (for example, some student activists were labeled as 'crisis actors' by one of the polarized camps);T1/17
lots of memes; and, not least, a well-coordinated Twitter bot frenzy to push the hashtags, memes, and two opposing points of view.Use and modify the framework below to teach op identification to your household members, young and old, and you will have a savvy and
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... media-literate household going forward (since this hellscape is now part of our shared reality, alas):
identify the two different opposing camps and their respective social or legislative prescriptions;
identify the different media events and be able to point out
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identify the two different opposing camps and their respective social or legislative prescriptions;identify the different media events and be able to point outT1/19
... the two different camps;
identify any relevant non-profit (money-laundering?) organizations;
find the relevant hashtags;
find any relevant conspiracy theories;
find some of the well-shared memes; and
find the Twitter bot campaigns. (This requires more
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identify any relevant non-profit (money-laundering?) organizations;find the relevant hashtags;find any relevant conspiracy theories;find some of the well-shared memes; andfind the Twitter bot campaigns. (This requires more T1/20
... than beginner-level skills, but teach this to the ten year olds and you will have an in-house counter-propaganda team up and running in no time. #funnybecausetrue)
If you have all of the above, you *probably* have a propaganda op, at which point you can ask: "What are
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If you have all of the above, you *probably* have a propaganda op, at which point you can ask: "What are
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... the two ostensibly opposed things here?" (Answer: gun rights versus gun control)
"And what is the thing BEHIND gun rights / control?" (Answer: Bad Guys! Criminals!)
Now here is where you introduce the second game: "What is the FAKE story and what is the REAL story?"
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"And what is the thing BEHIND gun rights / control?" (Answer: Bad Guys! Criminals!)
Now here is where you introduce the second game: "What is the FAKE story and what is the REAL story?"
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(Note: The fake stories are easy to identify if you have already done your due diligence in the Thing BEHIND The Thing game.)
The FAKE story is always the main media op. In this case, a stale-mated, staged fight between the 2nd Amendment People who favor mental health
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The FAKE story is always the main media op. In this case, a stale-mated, staged fight between the 2nd Amendment People who favor mental health
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... legislation for gun violence plus the individual right to keep and bear arms for self-defense in the home (and in certain public spaces) ... versus the gun control activists (and regular citizens) who argue for common-sense restrictions on permitting/licensing,
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... manufacture, sale, transfer, possession, modification, and use of firearms so as to minimize mass shooting violence in public spaces.
These two citizen groups are pitted against each other in a fight that is *meant* to end in a stalemate that serves mainly as
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These two citizen groups are pitted against each other in a fight that is *meant* to end in a stalemate that serves mainly as
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... #amygdalabait for generating and expressing fear, anger, and/or poutrage.
More significantly, the stalemate serves to obscure what the REAL story is about: in this case, ***the state (government) monopoly on the legitimate use of force in a society.***
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More significantly, the stalemate serves to obscure what the REAL story is about: in this case, ***the state (government) monopoly on the legitimate use of force in a society.***
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The 2018 Stoneman Douglas HS shooting event had clear government actors on the scene and at significant events in the aftermath. These included:
the school resource officer (a Deputy in the Sheriff's Office) who hung around outside of Building 12 after the shooting
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the school resource officer (a Deputy in the Sheriff's Office) who hung around outside of Building 12 after the shooting T1/27
... rampage began and who then failed to confront the gunman and instead let him leave the scene on foot;
Sheriff Scott Israel who received criticism for knowing about the gunman's documented history of violent tendencies before his purchase of the AR-15 semi-automatic
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Sheriff Scott Israel who received criticism for knowing about the gunman's documented history of violent tendencies before his purchase of the AR-15 semi-automatic T1/28
... weapon used in the shooting;
the other police officers on site who were either suspended without pay or who later resigned;
then-Governor Ron de Santis who suspended Sheriff Israel later;
the Governor's Commission that condemned the deputy's inaction at the
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the other police officers on site who were either suspended without pay or who later resigned;then-Governor Ron de Santis who suspended Sheriff Israel later;the Governor's Commission that condemned the deputy's inaction at the T1/29
... scene and suggested stringent school security measures for the future; and
a host of state- and national-level GOP elites (including Paul Ryan, Marco Rubio, Matt Bevin, Pat Roberts, James Lankford, John Kasich,and DJT) who weighed in on the event with the requisite
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a host of state- and national-level GOP elites (including Paul Ryan, Marco Rubio, Matt Bevin, Pat Roberts, James Lankford, John Kasich,and DJT) who weighed in on the event with the requisite T1/30
... "thoughts and prayers" and weak pleas for mental health resources.
Ahhh, did you catch the references to the Sheriff and Governor and head of the GOP (DJT)?
Yeah, that's key: When you have a helluva lot of government elites weighing in on anything that has to do with
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Ahhh, did you catch the references to the Sheriff and Governor and head of the GOP (DJT)?
Yeah, that's key: When you have a helluva lot of government elites weighing in on anything that has to do with
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guns, it is because the REAL issue here -- obscured by the stalemated front fight between the gun control activists and the gun rights 2nd Amendment people -- is the government's monopoly of the legitimate use of force in society, specifically by the military and the
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... police. #KABOOM #thereitis
Why do I say that? Because governments (of "states," to use an anthro jargon term that I will take up in the next thread) have been around on Planet Earth for the last 5,500-6,000 years, and they are DEFINED as hierarchical, bureaucratic
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Why do I say that? Because governments (of "states," to use an anthro jargon term that I will take up in the next thread) have been around on Planet Earth for the last 5,500-6,000 years, and they are DEFINED as hierarchical, bureaucratic
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... structures that all have militaries and internal security forces (ahem, police) that have legally-ordained ownership and control of weapons of war. #anthrofacts
When *this* political anthropologist hears about a gun rights/control event, I *KNOW* it is really about
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When *this* political anthropologist hears about a gun rights/control event, I *KNOW* it is really about
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... governmental control of war weapons for purposes of using force or threat of force on outsiders and certain insiders -- because that is what state governments have been doing for 5,000+ years and the government's today are structurally/functionally no different than
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The ancient civilations (also "states") of prehistory. I will go over this in some more detail in the next thread. For now, just know that this is a well-documented human behavior going back thousands of years and continuing into the present. It is a definitional, given
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... #anthrofacts and a well-established feature of all governments, past and present.
Now, let's look at this from the perspective of the Bad Guys and criminals in general. Basically, criminals want to be able to control the supply of guns in black arms markets so they
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Now, let's look at this from the perspective of the Bad Guys and criminals in general. Basically, criminals want to be able to control the supply of guns in black arms markets so they
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... can traffic them as commodities themselves, or use them to assist in the trafficking of other illegal commodities like humans and drugs.
So how do you increase the supply of guns for use on the black markets?
Well, hypothetically: You 'create' a shooter from your
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So how do you increase the supply of guns for use on the black markets?
Well, hypothetically: You 'create' a shooter from your
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... pool of targeted angry-young-men with specific neurological predispositions that you have identified from illegally obtained medical records. And you radicalize and microtarget that person online to purchase weapons and to plan to commit a mass shooting.
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Then you follow up with the usual accoutrements of demonstrations, rallies, protests, social media frenzies -- and BAM!
Gun sales RISE.
And weapon factories make bank. And personal weapon collections grow. And the cartels at the border get resourced with newer weapons
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Gun sales RISE.
And weapon factories make bank. And personal weapon collections grow. And the cartels at the border get resourced with newer weapons
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... for their illegal trafficking activities. And the homegrown vigilante groups and militia / paramilitary organizations also grow in number with members who have their own arsenals to bring to bear at future events.
And regular citizens are persuaded to live in fear.
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And regular citizens are persuaded to live in fear.
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But why should leaders of the state/government apparatus -- Sheriffs, Governors, House Reps, Senators, and the President -- weigh in on mass shootings and other events?
Well, because in this case, the government has been co-opted by a Criminal Syndicate (comprised of
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Well, because in this case, the government has been co-opted by a Criminal Syndicate (comprised of
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... one of our political parties and at least one hostile enemy government). So our current government is partly legitimate and partly criminal, too.
As such, the leaders of the criminally subverted parts of the state/government have two objectives: (1) Keep the illegal
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As such, the leaders of the criminally subverted parts of the state/government have two objectives: (1) Keep the illegal
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... black arms markets alive and functioning, while (2) obscuring from the citizenry the REAL story behind the fake front stories.
So we citizens get "thoughts and prayers" while the gun supply in the criminal marketplace retains its status quo.
Meanwhile, no real
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So we citizens get "thoughts and prayers" while the gun supply in the criminal marketplace retains its status quo.
Meanwhile, no real
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... legislative changes get enacted. But people feel really good because they participated in a demonstration or rally or some such event meant to feed the amygdala. All by design.
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MAIN TAKEAWAYS. Gun rights or gun control is ALWAYS really about the government's monopoly over the legitimate use of force in a society, regardless of what the punditry's talking heads are saying.
And if the government also happens to be partly or wholly CRIMINAL,
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And if the government also happens to be partly or wholly CRIMINAL,
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... well, then gun issues are ALSO about the Criminal Syndicate's supply of and demand for weapons in the black markets here and abroad.
POSTSCRIPT: A suggestion for moving beyond the stalemated gun-control-versus-gun-rights fight is to get both sides to realize that we
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POSTSCRIPT: A suggestion for moving beyond the stalemated gun-control-versus-gun-rights fight is to get both sides to realize that we
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... are not fighting each other. Instead we are mindlessly taking part in a large propaganda operation where the terms and conditions have already been decided for us by the criminal Bad Guys.
It's not Dems-versus-GOP or Liberals-versus-Conservatives or Us-versus-Them;
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It's not Dems-versus-GOP or Liberals-versus-Conservatives or Us-versus-Them;
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... it is law-abiding American citizens versus criminals, both foreign and domestic.
RESOLVED: Join with the other side to fight the Thing BEHIND the Other Things, or the criminals in our government. And to do that, we need to teach people how to identify and counter the
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RESOLVED: Join with the other side to fight the Thing BEHIND the Other Things, or the criminals in our government. And to do that, we need to teach people how to identify and counter the
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... propaganda ops. And you can start by teaching home versions of the two games outlined above. #forstarters #projectunity
Game on.
Thus ends Thread 1.
Next up: Thread 2 -- A political anthropologist defines "states"
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Game on.
Thus ends Thread 1.
Next up: Thread 2 -- A political anthropologist defines "states"
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