Is “Cancelling” a Successful War Fighting Strategy?

Have we weaponized “Cancel Culture” to the point it’s now our default war fighting mechanism?

www.abovetopsecret.com...

The linked thread got me thinking… I really doubt Putin wants a shooting war with the US. We don’t really want a shooting war with them, either. And, we both have nukes. And then there’s the China wildcard.

So, no shooting war.

Instead, Russia invades a neighbor under false pretenses and then threatens the world with nukes - while not exactly putting up an all star/global superpower performance militarily in theatre.

Our response?

“Cancel” them!

We have now turned cancel culture into a legitimately weaponized war fighting tool. Yes, we’ve done things similar to these “sanctions” before, but, not like this.

We’ve cancelled citizens, sports teams, crushed their currency, have bars all over the world pouring our Russian vodka, cancelled their social media presence, eliminated their ability to use visa/Mastercard to spend OR receive payment, SWIFT, etc.

We made being Russian exceptionally toxic.

Via NATO, we cancelled them. Hell, we even got the Swiss to take a stance.

This leaves me with three immediate questions (amongst obviously many others):

- How does Putin react to this? Do we have historical perspective to draw from?
- Is this the real future of war fighting?
- What does this mean if you’re a US or NATO citizen?

Maybe all of that “cancel culture” stuff was actually a test run here in the US - see how people respond and what happens after the fact.

Something tells me this was a trap we laid for Putin, he bit, the Ukraine is the fall guy for our larger ambitions on the chess board, and we learn that war fighting in 2022 isn’t about Megatons of yield but rather megabytes of data and a lot more to do with hearts and minds at scale than shooting people in a field.

What do you all think?

a reply to: VulcanWerks

One point to add:

My concern is that “cancel culture” has met some resistance. The media even backed off some of that with individual citizens of late - we probably already got the learning we needed (who to cancel, how to cancel, etc.).

The problem is, those who got cancelled lost gigs or shows or jobs but they’re all already insanely rich (most of them) to the point they could have retired long ago. You basically just forced retirement via “cancellation”.

The “cancellation” of Putin or Russia is a hell of a lot different than trying to cancel Joe Rogan for asking about aliens or COVID origins. You’re cancelling a world leader with a nuclear arsenal. What if he doesn’t like getting cancelled? What if Russian citizens don’t like having their lives cancelled because of him but end up blaming NATO?

The dude has Nukes, China’s their buddy and Western Europe is woefully defenseless ex-US involvement/presence.

He’s also effectively a dictator… who has their own ideas about how to deal with “dissenting voices”….

Said another way, the current “Sanctions”/“Cancel” strategy makes the US/NATO look “humane” by not shooting but also brings in an extraordinary amount of risk that’s hard to quantify, goes underreported, and is almost an insanely risky proposition because literally only one person is in control now - Putin. And a Putin with nothing to lose.

Good times!

a reply to: VulcanWerks

Have a peek at 4th a 5th generational warfare.

I can’t believe I didn’t put 2 and 2 together.

“Signal Value” is effectively the strategy that drives “Cancel Culture”.

“Cancelling” culture takes on a whole new meaning - we literally cancelled the ability for their culture to function/destroy symbols of their country abroad/cut sports teams/etc. Not a person - a society.

This comes in addition to the signalling value of the economic sanctions.

Western nations

took coordinated action (signalling unity)

against strategic entities of the Russian state (signalling attribution of responsibility)

in a manner designed to cause concrete economic damage (signalling credibility)

while accepting the (limited) risk that economic pain may befall them as a result (signalling resolve).

www.nato.int...

That quote is from a nato postmortem on impact of economic sanctions on Russia after the Crimea incursion.

The difference is, we shot some really “big bullets” this time at exactly the wrong time (right time?) economically. BUT, we didn’t stop there - we cancelled F’ing Russia! Someone has to be laughing their ass off about that. Hell, I’m laughing my ass off about that.

In the context of my OP, this almost feels personal with Putin.

originally posted by: JinMI
a reply to: VulcanWerks

Have a peek at 4th a 5th generational warfare.

On it.

a reply to: JinMI

Hmm, I don't know... I don't know any truth but I regard your perspective as delusional.

You think this NATO evoluation is good? Russia warned multiple times that those parts concern serious security risks and he will be having them just to do what he can for his country. The NATO expanse and other corrupt and dodgy affiliations with goverment officials and puppet governments that take a wrong bet escalating into war, that wasn't neccesary but I do think he had to send 'some' message, ofcourse war shouldn't be it but oh well. Putin be cray.

This was bound to happen someday and we've been speculating these things for years... Then they try bully him and goes all-in. They probably didn't expect that.

a reply to: ScrubCommander

Bad bot.

originally posted by: JinMI
a reply to: VulcanWerks

Have a peek at 4th a 5th generational warfare.

Well, there’s your blueprint:

It has been theorized that a state vs. state conflict in fourth-generation warfare would involve the use of computer hackers and international law to obtain the weaker side's objectives, the logic being that the civilians of the stronger state would lose the will to fight as a result of seeing their state engage in alleged atrocities and having their own bank accounts harmed.[citation neededd]

en.m.wikipedia.org...

This makes me think “cancel culture” was a test run because of the role it’s playing globally right now.

a reply to: VulcanWerks

If nothing else, its a clear cut timeline and evolution of something thats already been defined.

Rebuilding infrastructure, populations and markets take quite abit more time and resources than simply toppling governments and parties.

a reply to: VulcanWerks

Did you notice that "cancel culture" only works when all sides work with the same fiat currency system?

originally posted by: VictorVonDoom
a reply to: VulcanWerks

Did you notice that "cancel culture" only works when all sides work with the same fiat currency system?

Yes. Also makes one think a bit about Crypto in a new light.

originally posted by: VulcanWerks
“Cancelling” culture takes on a whole new meaning - we literally cancelled the ability for their culture to function/destroy symbols of their country abroad/cut sports teams/etc. Not a person - a society.

The old method of cancel culture is what Putin is doing with cutting off cities and starving them into surrender. It is an old Russian tactic, but someone needs to tell Putin the 1980s have come and gone and now it is all done differently as he is experiencing.

a reply to: VulcanWerks

It should. Whenever someone can declare that your currency is unacceptable, you're screwed.

After Roosevelt confiscated everyone's gold, he made it illegal to own. Gradually, any currency backed by gold fell away. Anyone who tried to make a currency backed by gold, well, it didn't end well for them.

Isn't it possible this invasion was intentionally done with this exact outcome in mind? Barely equipped, no night vision, no GPS, no food, with soldiers that are apparently barely trained to the point that civilians are taking them out ez pz? Now Russia can turn off their internet and brainwash everyone North Korea style until they are all ready to fight to the death for him, or he can just start launching nukes. WW3 is coming and we can't cancel it.

a reply to: VulcanWerks

That is EXACTLY what I concluded. The bully mentality is all well and good until you pick on the one that stands up to you and kicks your ass. Which is what's happening.

As far as what this means for us, it comes in handy. Make the serf citizens suffer, make the serfs beg for government help and hopefully get a nuclear power bullied with your cancel culture. That big flash you see is their answer. Were I Putin, I'd set off a nuke 200 miles off the east coast.

Good thread.

What many fail to understand is....by cutting Russia off from the rest of the world, this will push Putin to become even more radical by using small suitcase nuke devices around the world. Taking out large cities....or using biological/chemical bombs.

The world is pushing Putin into WW III.

a reply to: VulcanWerks

one has to wonder too
if one can cancel themselves out by playing on such playground

the more that get cancelled in a way can be...a self cancelled legacy in the making

originally posted by: billxam
a reply to: VulcanWerks

That is EXACTLY what I concluded. The bully mentality is all well and good until you pick on the one that stands up to you and kicks your ass. Which is what's happening.

As far as what this means for us, it comes in handy. Make the serf citizens suffer, make the serfs beg for government help and hopefully get a nuclear power bullied with your cancel culture. That big flash you see is their answer. Were I Putin, I'd set off a nuke 200 miles off the east coast.

What you’re saying here is definitely more-less what I’m worried about.

You push a guy who doesn’t love looking weak too far, desire to save face/ego may be > interest in resolution.

We appear to believe he’s bluffing there. I hope our intel is better than I think it is otherwise that miscalculation could be the largest one in human history.

Does Putin want to end up as the guy who finally put Russia out of its misery? Hell no. He’ll be the guy who nuked the western world to save his country before that happens IMO.

Regardless, our “non-violent” approach is at least as risky as the boots on the ground approach - the only “finality” to it is the Russian’s giving Putin the Saddam treatment the Iraqi’s did because I doubt Putin will take his ball and go home.

WW3 has been here, is here, Has been going on for years and no one noticed because it looks a lot different than WW2 - but it’s every bit as dangerous.

Cancelling is effective. Unfortunately. It can be used on anyone, anywhere, for any reason. It's been weaponized against Conservatives and anyone that supports Conservatives in the US for awhile now.

a reply to: VulcanWerks

After years of dealing with tacit or state-sponsored Russian hacking it's kind of comical to see Putin on the other end of this.

Oh, well, sucks to be him.