In 1962, the term Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD) became a common term of the Cold War that was fought over threats of nuclear war. A game of chicken, played with the Superpowers, that could only end one way — death to all. It was a fool’s game that culminates with everyone dead. Although during times like the Cuban Missile Crisis, that game was brought to the edges of the insane becoming a reality, the leaders always flinched, negotiated, backed down and the term faded into the background of history.
Did it fade or did it just evolve into something smarter and less primal but infinitely more sinister and insidious?
If I wanted to take out a competitor, would I really just blow them up ensuring they would also blow my company up? It sounds like a daft idea. And, in a world where we quite often like to call people stupid, even the most intellectually challenged amongst us would think that wouldn’t be a beneficial plan. It’s all about power and money, money and power. And, neither continues to exist in a nuclear leveled world.
A longer con would be necessary, a colder war … a quieter war.
If I really wanted to take out a competitor, the most clever way would be to have it appear they have done it to themselves and the most genius way that could be accomplished would be without them ever realizing it. A “corporate takeover”, but of an entire country, while keeping the workforce working and producing … but, quietly and unknowingly for me. Yes … that would be the plot that would have me twisting my bad guy mustache with a self-satisfied sneer on my face, while petting a hairless cat or a tiger or some other stereotypical action to express my pleasure with accomplishing my evil plot.
Singly Assure Destruction. And, I would do it like this:
I would set the groundwork by quietly buying a majority stake in all communications for my target: media, print, social or otherwise.
I would use my great financial influence to donate to campaigns of desperate and unscrupulous politicians.
I would use a health crisis to destabilize the nation and prey on the economic pain and fear.
I would use the nation’s own weaknesses against them, perhaps a dirty, history of racism and prey on this issue to wedge citizen against citizen to keep them fighting and distracted.
I would use the distractions to quietly buy more of the country off.
I would open the borders to allow drugs to pour in, to create more pain and suffering that would add to the distraction.
I would use the continued distraction to buy more, own more, control more without anyone recognizing it.
I would scare people that begin to speak up into “cancellation”.
I would continue to destabilize through cyber attacks on resources that they cannot live without like pipelines or water supplies. Or, cyber attack government agencies to send the message that no one or anything is safe from the hack.
I would ride that wave of fear into buying off more.
I would convince people that patriotism, or any love of their home country is “nationalism” or something ugly. Don’t kneel, don’t pledge allegiance, don’t speak.
When I had enough of them broken, bought off, fighting amongst themselves … I would sit back and slightly remove a little of the pressure and watch them all so happy to return to any semblance of normalcy, that they wouldn’t even notice they now work for me.
And, for any of the straggling remnants of the free country that existed prior to this takeover; I would label them purveyors of misinformation, conspiracy theorists or kooks and unleash the unknowing mob that I carefully and methodically created on them to remove or erase them from any hope of spreading their free thoughts to the masses.
A takeover … without one bomb dropped or bullet shot. A takeover … with money, words, bytes and nanoparticles. A takeover that no one even knew happened … and, the worker bees go back to their jobs and backyard barbeques and fly their flags proudly over a country that in reality no longer is their own.
And, that … my friends … is how you accomplish Singly Assured Destruction. It’s not even slightly ironic that the acronym for that is SAD.
But, that’s just me and how I would do it. I’m sure no other country would ever figure a plan like that out.
Pretty Political 