Full Credit to SUA SPONTE
"Fifth Generation Warfare (5GW) is a propaganda and information warfare to accomplish strategic, operational, and tactical objectives, without measurable damage that the target can identify. Importantly in 5GW the target may not even know it has been attacked, thus the target has already lost that battle. This is accomplished by manipulating the population into taking action." SUA SPONTE
In an earlier post Gabe said "what we are seeing is a page from the playbook of guerrilla warfare. Points from Mao, Major Rogers (yes...that one), and every other successful insurgency. The urban thugs didn't come up with this on their own. They have structure and leadership. We are seeing the first glimmer of the Second American Civil War here. All intended to unseat Trump in November. Understand that historically, there are no coincidences."
First I'd like to start by saying I absolutely agree with his assessment, but these tactics are from a whole new playbook that Mao and Robert Rodgers couldn't have dreamed of simply because of how people receive information today. I would say what we are seeing is what we have come to call fifth Generation Warfare (5GW)
While Forth Generation Warfare (4GW) has become familiar to many over the past 2 decades with the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, and other places abroad, 4GW is the classic example of what we often think of as "Guerrilla warfare". This is characterized by decentralized factions or "Actors", with blurry lines between combatants and non-combatants, very few if any significant head to head actions against opposing forces. Think of many small fights verse large battles. IED's, ambushes, small raids etc.
Fifth Generation Warfare (5GW) is a propaganda and information warfare to accomplish strategic, operational, and tactical objectives, without measurable damage that the target can identify. Importantly in 5GW the target may not even know it has been attacked, thus the target has already lost that battle. This is accomplished by manipulating the population into taking action. This is easily achieved in our modern world with the massive emergence of social media and other information technologies. By controlling the algorithms of what information people see you can in a sense control their thoughts and actions. A perfect example of the use of 5GW was a little thing that came to be known as "The Arab Spring", western intelligence used 5GW to orchestrate a series of anti-government protests, uprisings, and armed rebellions that spread across much of the Arab world in the early 2010. This was done without even having our own boots on the ground.
Sua, what does the average guy do to prepare for this?
Great question! Unfortunately there isn't a simple answer because it is a very complex convergence of factors that sets the conditions for 5GW to be applicable.
1. Strong Community/Society!!! This is the one thing that makes 5GW almost completely ineffective. The down side is that we are well past that phase-line as a nation; however depending on where you live there still could be some hope at the local level. And don't discount the importance of your family/tribe, strength there will go a long way in resilience.
2. Don't participate - Stay above the fray, don't go to protests or counter-protests even "conservative" sponsored ones, don't re-post inflammatory things on social media, in fact go to observational only on social media unless required to do so as part of your profession. Multi source check everything you read, and even then question it.
3. Be ready for interruptions of services - Food, water, power, communications, emergency services as these are all are potential targets. This is where a strong community/tribe comes into play.
4. Stay vigilant - Watch for and monitor anomalies in the world around you, and adjust your lifestyle accordingly. (I didn't say STOP living your life, merely do so with your radar up) and of course above all .....Avoid the 4 Stupids:
“Don’t go to stupid places, at stupid times of day, to do stupid things, with stupid people. Don’t look stupid, don’t act stupid” Ed. - So, I suppose that makes Six Stupids.
5GW does need some conditions to be in place in order for it to work: (We currently meet all four conditions)
Media connected population
Bad economy
Frustration of the population
Polarization either political or tribal
I have no doubt that 3rd party actors are at play here, so yes boys and girls we are at war. But it isn't a war like any of you have ever seen."
Thanks again to SUA SPONTE
...as always, we should do our own research and decide for ourselves!