Resistance: the readings

[politicat]

The Simple Sabotage Field Manual was written by the OSS (precursor to the CIA) for aiding resistance cells during World War II. The manual is about 35 pages long. http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/26184 - multiple versions. Download, encrypt, retain, read.

The first 27 pages of the manual are a how-to for monkey-wrenching an analog industrial world. This advice is less useful today since 1) fewer of us are in manufacturing, 2) less of our manufacturing is of the tool and die machinist variety, 3) our surveillance culture is drastically more intense now and 4) we are not currently conscripted for unwilling war work. That part is mostly of historical interest to fiction writers at this point.

The last five pages however are the gold standard for hacking an organization into dysfunction. Business execs and organizational psychologists have been using this blueprint to identify sick social systems for years. These pages should be read and remembered, because being able to identify the behaviors of disrupters helps us all guard against disruption. And we may also need to use these tactics. This is the how-to manual for plausibly deniable passive-aggression, and passive-aggression is an incredibly powerful tool in the face of fascism.

Cory Doctorow's Little Brother and Homeland (available as free ebooks, also available in print and audio for sale.)
http://craphound.com/littlebrother/download/ and http://craphound.com/category/littlebrother/

These two YA SF novels are premised on an economic collapse and rising fascism. They're fun stories, but they also have a lot of practical tips for using off-the-shelf hardware and software as defenses. In the spirit of the SSFM but updated for current tech, the practical aspects discuss how to defeat facial and body recognition algorithms, using PGP and VPNs, setting up secure Linux, why even people with nothing to fear need crypto, and how to organize. While the game console that Marcus uses does not technically exist, mesh networks are possible with current technology.

Personal information technology security: https://ssd.eff.org/en/playlist/want-security-starter-pack

A document from the EFF, this will walk a new-to-security user through the basics of setting and maintaining personal electronic defenses. Security tool evaluation, social media, threat modeling, communication tools, passwords, encryption. If you're not using a VPN and crypto, it's time to get started. If nothing else, even if you have nothing but recipes and DU posts to protect, your presence as a user of crypto means that others who need crypto to survive have more cover. And people who need crypto include domestic violence survivors, victims of stalking, women with opinions, leakers and voter organization advocates.

New Inquiry's Antifa reading list - http://thenewinquiry.com/features/a-time-for-treason/

It's not required to agree with everything antifa posits -- people within antifa often disagree -- just recognize that antifa has been confronting fascism for forty years and has compiled a lot of sources and knowledge. This link alone has dozens of sources, on everything from the history of fascism to resistance tactics to protecting reproductive, religious and racial resistance movements.

Sick Systems, Qualities that Keep You in a Sick System, What to Remember When Dealing with a Narcissist

http://www.issendai.com/psychology/sick-systems.html
http://www.issendai.com/psychology/sick-systems-qualities-that-keep-you-stuck.html
http://www.issendai.com/psychology/narcissism/narcissists-what-to-remember.html

These three blog posts are the primer for the group psychology of surviving organizational or personal dysfunction of the narcissist variety. These are the basic tools that have helped thousands of children of narcissistic parents leave the abuse. Behaviorally, the current administration is acting like a sick system of narcissism. Whether they are diagnosable or not is not academic at this point. Their behavior is what matters and our reactions to that behavior need to be informed by best practices.

Pick your thing, read up, put it in place. That's today's homework.