A Reforging of the Pentagon
Okay, people. I've gone a little into the whole Apple/Pentagon division in the first post I threw onto this sucker. Now I'm going to recommend a few things for our society's Pentagon, yes, that huge monstrous building that some assholes flew a passenger jet into on 9/11. Like I said earlier today, we need a military and political strategy based on the Big R, Respect. Anything else will be undermined and destroyed by its very nature. But a consideration on the Erisian and Anerisian strains in society.
Ken Wilber eloquently puts it in his book No Boundary: That it's fine to make distinctions between supposed opposites. But to think that they're separable or able to be had one without the other is bullshit. Draw a line representing a "convex", and you also simultaneously draw a line for "concave".
Having "above" necessitates having "below", and so on. So you can't be light-hearted and free without taking on some responsibility. So a well-balanced Discordian should be both half-serious, half-joking... and able to recognize where each is necessary. I'll joke at the Apocalypse if it comes in my lifetime, but you'll be damn sure that I'll step up for my enclave. Part of learning to recognize the Apple or the Pentagon involves watching the experts of both, and learning from them. In this regard, our military is one of the finest institutions of pentagon mind, regardless of the shape of a certain building in Virginia. I've had a good look at its structure through normal civilian channels, personal contact with military family and friends, and a bit of historical researching. And I've always been fascinated with the dance of geopolitics, ever since I was a small boy raised knowing that the Dirty Commies were out to get me.
They say that fighting a battle is like two men in a dark room having a fist fight. You have a fixing hand and a smashing hand: one hand feels around in the dark for the opponent, while the other is wound up for a punch. When the probing touches him, it grabs him, and the other fist slams forward into the held enemy.
Our military is an instrument designed to utterly crush opposing armies. This presupposes having an enemy army conveniently gathered for destruction. The Russians were very ready to provide us a "target rich environment" if it came to WWIII back in the days of the USSR. Nowadays, they couldn't coordinate such an invasion without a dramatic reorganization of their state and military structures. But now, our enemies hit and fade, they assassinate those who help us. This is a guerilla war that we're fighting, and a military structured like ours can't cope. Here's how we make sure we're secure, and at the same time, are able to successfully conduct the sort of NATO/UN peacekeeping missions and nation-building we seem to favor due to our economic stance, which will change when hell freezes over or we get Universal HealthcareTM.
One of the main complaints most people have about the National Guard and Reserves is that they're being abused, a "back-alley draft". The National Guard is supposed to be a distributed militia-like organization, ready to be called up by a State Governor in an emergency, like in Florida's hurricanes. The National Guard is also supposed to be the last line of defense should there be some kind of invasion or attack by a foriegn power onto US soil. The most important thing about the National Guard is that they are a regional force. They live where they would hypothetically fight. They already know some if not most of the terrain better than any invader could, because they know it in person, instead of from maps. Better yet, gradually combine the overall Guard structure with the Postal service. We all know where we get "going postal" from anyway; if we incorporated them in a limited fashion, they'd be a constant witness to local events, able to pick up on trends, and they'd know where everything was from delivering mail.
In the event of an invasion on US soil, the Guard would cut off or encode the GPS system so that outsiders navigation using our sats is impossible, and remove all the road signs. Teach them defensive guerilla tactics, urban and rural warfare, and give them appropriate weapons. The career military, being experts on the destruction of masses of units, would set up fire-bases near the front where any battle would be well within the range of their artillery. Make a new standard for an anti-artillery weapon based on the Aegis anti-missile Naval system, so the firebases couldn't be casually bombed by stray mortar teams.
The same kind of support would be integral to nation-building and stomping out bandits an terrorists. We need a flexible force, however, to ensure that these roving bands get hit, while maintaining contact with the local populace. This standing around on a corner waiting to get shot and riding around in poorly armored vehicles in mine infested streets is a bunch of crap. We need an indirect force; a force that operates like the guerillas, that moves from town to town, helping people out in an orchestrated campaign to build trust and stability. This necessitates either a shift in language training and specific units deployed to specific language areas... or a device that can universally translate speech and synthesize speech in other languages. If we are to move into the Iraqs and Afghanistans of the world, we need to have a force that can win these people's trust and respect.
This would require many small units of light infantry, well equipped for light to medium resistance, and able to call in back up for heavier jobs. They should have at least one sniper per unit, and a trained spotter with a laser designator and a radio. They should make the most of the terrain for camouflage, and show up unexpectedly, gaining the element of surprise. They should be trained to collect intelligence and "win hearts and minds" when they enter civilian areas. And they should linger hidden nearby if the people express fear, and watch for returning militants bent on reprisal. With fire bases of regular Army in support and the ability to air-lift in many reinforcements, having such a distributed force would be valuable indeed.
In other words, we've got to be better guerillas than the guerillas. And like I said, we practically invented that shit here in the USA during the Revolution in 1776. We have the finest memetic science in the world here. We can teach our soldiers how to interact with all levels of the Spiral, teach them NLP for better communications. If our foriegn policy can be a light to all other nations in the world, they will be persuasive and heroic. Above all, they'll know why they're doing what they're doing, and they'll likely be proud of it. Such forces would be able to recruit irregular troops from the local populace if persuasive enough. These recruited forces would make the initial backbone of a national army after the establishment of a new government.
Hey, maybe nation building isn't smart; it's a waste of resources. But if we're going to do it, we'd better do it right, because if not, a lot of our boys and girls are going to come home missing things... or in a box.
Okay, people. I've gone a little into the whole Apple/Pentagon division in the first post I threw onto this sucker. Now I'm going to recommend a few things for our society's Pentagon, yes, that huge monstrous building that some assholes flew a passenger jet into on 9/11. Like I said earlier today, we need a military and political strategy based on the Big R, Respect. Anything else will be undermined and destroyed by its very nature. But a consideration on the Erisian and Anerisian strains in society.
Ken Wilber eloquently puts it in his book No Boundary: That it's fine to make distinctions between supposed opposites. But to think that they're separable or able to be had one without the other is bullshit. Draw a line representing a "convex", and you also simultaneously draw a line for "concave".
Convex ( Concave
Having "above" necessitates having "below", and so on. So you can't be light-hearted and free without taking on some responsibility. So a well-balanced Discordian should be both half-serious, half-joking... and able to recognize where each is necessary. I'll joke at the Apocalypse if it comes in my lifetime, but you'll be damn sure that I'll step up for my enclave. Part of learning to recognize the Apple or the Pentagon involves watching the experts of both, and learning from them. In this regard, our military is one of the finest institutions of pentagon mind, regardless of the shape of a certain building in Virginia. I've had a good look at its structure through normal civilian channels, personal contact with military family and friends, and a bit of historical researching. And I've always been fascinated with the dance of geopolitics, ever since I was a small boy raised knowing that the Dirty Commies were out to get me.
They say that fighting a battle is like two men in a dark room having a fist fight. You have a fixing hand and a smashing hand: one hand feels around in the dark for the opponent, while the other is wound up for a punch. When the probing touches him, it grabs him, and the other fist slams forward into the held enemy.
Our military is an instrument designed to utterly crush opposing armies. This presupposes having an enemy army conveniently gathered for destruction. The Russians were very ready to provide us a "target rich environment" if it came to WWIII back in the days of the USSR. Nowadays, they couldn't coordinate such an invasion without a dramatic reorganization of their state and military structures. But now, our enemies hit and fade, they assassinate those who help us. This is a guerilla war that we're fighting, and a military structured like ours can't cope. Here's how we make sure we're secure, and at the same time, are able to successfully conduct the sort of NATO/UN peacekeeping missions and nation-building we seem to favor due to our economic stance, which will change when hell freezes over or we get Universal HealthcareTM.
One of the main complaints most people have about the National Guard and Reserves is that they're being abused, a "back-alley draft". The National Guard is supposed to be a distributed militia-like organization, ready to be called up by a State Governor in an emergency, like in Florida's hurricanes. The National Guard is also supposed to be the last line of defense should there be some kind of invasion or attack by a foriegn power onto US soil. The most important thing about the National Guard is that they are a regional force. They live where they would hypothetically fight. They already know some if not most of the terrain better than any invader could, because they know it in person, instead of from maps. Better yet, gradually combine the overall Guard structure with the Postal service. We all know where we get "going postal" from anyway; if we incorporated them in a limited fashion, they'd be a constant witness to local events, able to pick up on trends, and they'd know where everything was from delivering mail.
In the event of an invasion on US soil, the Guard would cut off or encode the GPS system so that outsiders navigation using our sats is impossible, and remove all the road signs. Teach them defensive guerilla tactics, urban and rural warfare, and give them appropriate weapons. The career military, being experts on the destruction of masses of units, would set up fire-bases near the front where any battle would be well within the range of their artillery. Make a new standard for an anti-artillery weapon based on the Aegis anti-missile Naval system, so the firebases couldn't be casually bombed by stray mortar teams.
The same kind of support would be integral to nation-building and stomping out bandits an terrorists. We need a flexible force, however, to ensure that these roving bands get hit, while maintaining contact with the local populace. This standing around on a corner waiting to get shot and riding around in poorly armored vehicles in mine infested streets is a bunch of crap. We need an indirect force; a force that operates like the guerillas, that moves from town to town, helping people out in an orchestrated campaign to build trust and stability. This necessitates either a shift in language training and specific units deployed to specific language areas... or a device that can universally translate speech and synthesize speech in other languages. If we are to move into the Iraqs and Afghanistans of the world, we need to have a force that can win these people's trust and respect.
This would require many small units of light infantry, well equipped for light to medium resistance, and able to call in back up for heavier jobs. They should have at least one sniper per unit, and a trained spotter with a laser designator and a radio. They should make the most of the terrain for camouflage, and show up unexpectedly, gaining the element of surprise. They should be trained to collect intelligence and "win hearts and minds" when they enter civilian areas. And they should linger hidden nearby if the people express fear, and watch for returning militants bent on reprisal. With fire bases of regular Army in support and the ability to air-lift in many reinforcements, having such a distributed force would be valuable indeed.
In other words, we've got to be better guerillas than the guerillas. And like I said, we practically invented that shit here in the USA during the Revolution in 1776. We have the finest memetic science in the world here. We can teach our soldiers how to interact with all levels of the Spiral, teach them NLP for better communications. If our foriegn policy can be a light to all other nations in the world, they will be persuasive and heroic. Above all, they'll know why they're doing what they're doing, and they'll likely be proud of it. Such forces would be able to recruit irregular troops from the local populace if persuasive enough. These recruited forces would make the initial backbone of a national army after the establishment of a new government.
Hey, maybe nation building isn't smart; it's a waste of resources. But if we're going to do it, we'd better do it right, because if not, a lot of our boys and girls are going to come home missing things... or in a box.
posted by P-Tar at
1:32 PM
2 Comments:
loved the concave/convex metaphor. it works on every level.
Machines Not Lost in Translation
By
plectic, at 10:14 AM
Yeah, it's a beaut, isn't it? Thanks Ken! I've been a big believer in the concept of Balance since I started spiritually seeking as a confused teen. However, let me tell you that my concept of balance isn't a static one: it's kind of like the balance a gyroscope gets when you spin it, or the balance of a controlled skid when performing high-speed turns in a vehicle.
Jesse from Homoplasmate seems to think that FOCUS ) ENERGY are a pair of opposites. Well, maybe, but I know from personal experience they're the SAME THING. Energize me enough and I spontaneously find that gyroscope focus point. Let me meditate and focus when I'm down and I'll find my center and the root of my energy again.
By
P-Tar, at 1:37 PM
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