Decentralized response to decentralized threat

In comments to an article by Megan McArdle (the article itself is interesting):

It’s basically peer-to-peer terrorism. And that makes it nearly impossible to fight, because there is no military headquarters to bomb, just like there is no single server to take down in a p2p network.

They’ve basically crowdsourced terrorism.

So we need peer-to-peer defense.”

I can’t think of anything to add to that.

11 thoughts on “Decentralized response to decentralized threat”

  1. Time for a paradigm change.

    We, the people, need to become the first responders…we are the ones who are there first. EMS, fire, police will come when they can.

    So, EVERYBODY should be trained to handle firearms safely, and those that wish to should carry.

    EVERYBODY, especially visible minorities, should be trained in serious martial arts – Krav Maga or SAMBO, nothing stylized. That will stop a lot of the crap thats been going on, with gay bashing, beating up other minorities, spouse abuse.

    and EVERYBODY should be trained in serious, combat first aid. While the Red Cross, etc do what they can their training is based on a model where the ambulance is 5 minutes out and the main concern (at least in basic courses) is not to make a bad situation worse.

    Relying on governments, at any level, to do more than hose out the gore has been proven stupid, again and again.

    1. 1 and 3 ought to be done in schools. 2 is a “nice to have,” not everyone has the physique or mindset to accept combat training; and it’s a highly perishable skillset, to boot.

      3 is a perishable skillset as well, but having had the training will allow a refresher via phone app/video on Der Tag

      1. I’ve seen people with profound physical disabilities (CP, blindness) learn to defend themselves…because they didn’t want to be victims to assholes.

        And all are perishable skills, but the problem especially with physical combat skills is that everyone today is taught to NOT fight at all. How many people are actually in fights in school today? The training, the mindset, is to not fight and tell the authorities, and these days the reporting child would be accused of a crime or mental instability.

        The main point of martial arts training is to let people know that they can be struck, and hurt, and get back up and fight….not cry for help while hiding in a bathroom. An additonal advantage is that minorities that are typically victims of abuse (gay bashing, spousal abuse) will have that experience, and a visceral understanding that they can indeed fight back.

  2. I am copying this from another location where I wrote it.

    Ok here is my solution to the limited problem of spree shooters. By limited I mean that the are both rare and this does not solve other problems.

    When I was growing up hijacking of planes in the US was actually pretty common. It easily happened a couple time a year. Generally it was some nutjob off his meds but there was the occasional group trying to make a political point. Airport security got a little better and that reduced the number some but the hijackings did not really stop. Now days if you look like you are going to try something on a plane you are going to get tackled by those around you and if you are lucky you will still have all your teeth by the time you are duct taped to the a seat.

    So for people trying to hijack planes for political purposes there is no profit in trying. They will not succeed! The people on the plane have decided that their only choice is to stop the attacker(s) or die trying. This is the same thing that happened on the train in France last year. A couple Americans and a Brit decided ‘Nope! Not going to happen.’ They rushed the attacker and took him down. They got hurt when they did it but that is better than dying. You do not hear about plane hijackings in the US any more. You hear about people ducktaped to a seat. This is even after the TSA own testing showed that they miss 90% or more the guns and bombs people try to sneak by.

    So we make sure that the attackers do not succeed for long. Someone starts shooting at the crowd then it is the crowds job to make them stop. On the planes this has generally been the unaccompanied males but women have joined in to. So to solve the issue of spree killers we make sure that the attackers know that they will get the beat down of their lives if they even survive. Think lone gunman versus the zombie horde. That guy is not going to last.

    1. It requires the mindset of the people to fight back.

      Society has spent the last 3 or 4 generations teaching, from kindergarten on, that one shouldnt fight back…These days, if you complain to a teacher, the put-upon child is considered the agressor.

      That is why I advocate for serious marshal arts training – to break that mindset. If nothing else, the participants will learn that they CAN be struck and yes it hurts, and you can do something about it – not crying out to mommy via a tween while hiding in the bathroom. Or at least not everyone.

      Our enemy is among us. We must put fighters among them.

        1. First of all, my apologies – I know it should be spelled Martial….

          And the small number of people willing to step up is a concern. The hundreds of people in Pulse could have done something – the few people stepping up on airplanes and dealing with bombers. I want a very retaliation-rich environment where every threat is met with (dare I say it) 72 responders to every jihadist.

          After all, even an earthworm will turn away from painful stimulus. Lets create as much pain for the terrs as possible.

          There are other benefits to society as well. Should any sort of disaster occur, the first aid training and self-confidence would be useful.

  3. If you are going to do this (empower the unorganized militia, the Founders “whole people”), the public policy changes that need to happen are the elimination of gun-free zones and universal reciprocity. It is possible for unarmed people to swarm an armed attacker but it is most difficult.

    1. A very large group swarming a single armed terrorist is risky – but not swarming is suicidal.

      As Heinlein put it in Starship Troopers, Citizenship (or a citizen) is a state of mind, an emotional conviction that the whole is greater than the parts…and that the part should be proud to sacrifice themselves that the whole may live.

      This is somewhat different than the attitude most have today, where everyone is an individual, and a special snowflake. Yet, in every group there are those who will step up and fight for the survival of the species. There are other historical and lyrical referents as well – Leonidas with the Spartans, Kipling… Todd Beamer on Flight 93, September 11, 2001.

      Yes, some will die….the alternative is all will die.

  4. Either you match a dispersed threat with a dispersed capability to respond, or you lose a lot of souls.

Comments are closed.