           SOME TACTICAL REFLECTIONS -- PART I
                           ***
[Author's note:  these observations derive from 32 years' 
experience as a libertarian activist as well as a 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 with 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:  
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, failure 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 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.  
                           ***
L. Neil Smith
Author:  THE PROBABILITY BROACH, THE CRYSTAL EMPIRE, 
HENRY MARTYN, and (forthcoming) PALLAS
LEVER ACTION BBS (303) 493-6674, FIDOnet: 1:306/31.4
Libertarian Second Amendment Caucus
NRA Life Member

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