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Thread: Is America Prepared for Meme Warfare?

  1. #1

    Is America Prepared for Meme Warfare?

    ...
    Memes appear to function like the IEDs of information warfare. They are natural tools of an insurgency; great for blowing things up, but likely to sabotage the desired effects when handled by the larger actor in an asymmetric conflict. Just think back to the NYPD’s hashtag boondoggle for an example of how quickly things can go wrong when big institutions try to control messaging on the internet. That doesn’t mean research should be abandoned or memes disposed of altogether, but as the NYPD case and other examples show, the establishment isn’t really built for meme warfare.

    For a number of reasons, memetics are likely to become more important in the new White House.
    To understand this issue, we first have to define what a meme is because that is a subject of some controversy and confusion in its own right. We tend to think of memes from their popular use on the internet as iterative single panel illustrations with catchy tag lines, Pepe and Lolcats being two well known known examples of that type. But in its scientific and military usage a meme refers to something far broader. In his 2006 essay Evolutionary Psychology, Memes and the Origin of War, the American transhumanist writer Keith Henson defined memes as “replicating information patterns: ways to do things, learned elements of culture, beliefs or ideas.”

    Memetics, the study of meme theory and application, is a kind of grab bag of concepts and disciplines. It’s part biology and neuroscience, part evolutionary psychology, part old fashioned propaganda, and part marketing campaign driven by the same thinking that goes into figuring out what makes a banner ad clickable. Though memetics currently exists somewhere between science, science fiction, and social science, some enthusiasts present it as a kind of hidden code that can be used to reprogram not only individual behaviors but entire societies.

    For a number of reasons, memetics are likely to become more important in the new White House. Jeff Giesea is a former employee of tech giant and Trump donor Peter Thiel, and an influential organizer within the alt right who was prominently featured in recent profiles on the movement and its ties to the Trump administration. Giesea is also the author of an article published in an official NATO strategic journal in late 2015—just as the Trump campaign was really building steam—entitled “It’s Time to Embrace Memetic Warfare.”

    “It’s time to drive towards a more expansive view of Strategic Communications on the social media battlefield,” Giesea said in his essay on the power of memes. “It’s time to adopt a more aggressive, proactive, and agile mindset and approach. It’s time to embrace memetic warfare.”

    Giesea was far from the first to suggest this. Some forward thinkers within the US military were interested in how memes might be used in warfare years before the killing and digital resurrection of Harambe dominated popular culture. Public records indicate that the military’s interest in memes picked up after 2001, spurred by the wars against jihadist terrorist groups and the parallel “War of ideas” with Islamist ideology.


    “Memetics: A Growth Industry in US Military operations” was published in 2005 by Michael B. Prosser, then a Major and now a Lieutenant Colonel in the Marine Corps. Written as an assignment for the Marine Corps’ School of Advanced Warfighting, Prosser’s paper includes a disclaimer clarifying that it represents only his own views and not those of the military or US government. In it, he lays out a vision for both weaponizing and diffusing memes, defined as “units of cultural transmission” and “bits of cultural information transmitted and replicated throughout populations and/or societies” in order to “understand and defeat an enemy ideology and win over the masses of undecided noncombatants.”

    Prosser’s paper includes a detailed proposal for the development of a “Meme Warfare Center.” The center’s function is to “advise the Commander on meme generation, transmission, coupled with a detailed analysis on enemy, friendly and noncombatant populations.” Headed by a senior civilian or military leader known as a “Meme Management Officer” or “Meme and Information Integration Advisor,” Prosser writes, “the MWC is designed to advise the commander and provide the most relevant meme combat options within the ideological and nonlinear battle space.”


    ...
    http://motherboard.vice.com/read/mem...urce=mbtwitter
    Quote Originally Posted by Ron Paul View Post
    The intellectual battle for liberty can appear to be a lonely one at times. However, the numbers are not as important as the principles that we hold. Leonard Read always taught that "it's not a numbers game, but an ideological game." That's why it's important to continue to provide a principled philosophy as to what the role of government ought to be, despite the numbers that stare us in the face.
    Quote Originally Posted by Origanalist View Post
    This intellectually stimulating conversation is the reason I keep coming here.



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  3. #2
    “[T]he enshrinement of constitutional rights necessarily takes certain policy choices off the table.” (Heller, 554 U.S., at ___, 128 S.Ct., at 2822.)

    How long before "going liberal" replaces "going postal"?

  4. #3
    "Let it not be said that we did nothing." - Dr. Ron Paul. "Stand up for what you believe in, even if you are standing alone." - Sophie Magdalena Scholl
    "War is the health of the State." - Randolph Bourne "Freedom is the answer. ... Now, what's the question?" - Ernie Hancock.

  5. #4
    Ludwig von Mises Understood "Meme Magic"

    One of the most consistent themes through the works of Ludwig von Mises is the role ideas play in shaping society. As he wrote in Theory and History:

    Thoughts and ideas are not phantoms. They are real things. Although intangible and immaterial, they are factors in bringing about changes in the realm of tangible and material things.
    How those ideas are transmitted has changed dramatically over time: from reliance on the spoken word, to the spread of print, to the rise of television, and to today’s digital word. Even within each era new forms of communication have arisen. For example, print transformed from a privilege of noble elites, to a medium created for the masses. Today’s age of digital communication is one that is constantly changing, but there is one phenomenon that may be particularly useful in the battle of ideas: online memes.

    While by now most people are familiar with the word “meme,” there is still some misunderstanding on exactly what one is.

    The term “meme” actually originated with the work of Richard Dawkins on human evolution, though the phrase took on a life of its own in the age of the internet. Memes are images created with the purpose of communicating some sort of idea, whether trivial or profound. While the targeted audience of a meme can be broad, the images often require some sort of pre-existing knowledge of a pop-cultural reference or trope. Like other forms of comedy, a meme also has its own form of internal logic. Just as the iconic cartoonist Chuck Jones constrained himself to a certain set of rules when creating Bugs Bunny cartoons, a successful meme often follows a recognizable pattern in order to make a point.

    By building off these understood formulas, memes even have the ability to transcend cultural and national barriers. As the third example demonstrates, one can understand the political message being made simply by recognizing the image’s format.

    ...

    There is a key common thread with all of these and other examples of particularly potent political memes: the ideas being communicated are outside of the mainstream. After all, the best sort of memes tend to be those that trigger some sort of reaction, which is difficult to do by restricting yourself within the confines of common thought and opinion. There wasn’t much demand for memes promoting Hillary Clinton or Jeb Bush even when we were being force fed them by the mainstream media. Meme culture has become largely defined by its hostility to political correctness, sometimes with real life consequences for their creators.

    This actually fits in with Ludwig von Mises’s understanding of the impact of ideas in society. As he wrote in The Ultimate Foundation of Economic Science:

    The ideas that change the intellectual climate of a given environment are those unheard of before.
    While in the book he’s specifically talking about original ideas, the repackaging of thoughts long outside of the mainstream can have a similar impact. After all, some of the Austrian school’s most radical insights were the rediscovery of truths understood by ancient great thinkers. So for memes to be effective, they don’t have to contain original thoughts, they must simply be effective in communicating the sort of ideas that won’t be seen in more traditional mediums.

    As such it’s not surprising to see memes being the medium of choice for online reactionaries, anarchists, and others whose world view stands athwart the status quo. It also explains why the Austrian school’s monarch of memes is the one least discussed by the various libertarian beltway organizations: Hans-Hermann Hoppe.

    In conclusion, while it is easy to dismiss much of the trends the internet has created, it is important to recognize the impact they do have on culture. We’ve already seen social media play significant roles in toppling standing governments, and obviously the visual use of propaganda is nothing new. As Mises understood, the hope for a freer future depends on winning the battle of hearts and minds:

    Everything that happens in the social world in our time is the result of ideas. Good things and bad things. What is needed is to fight bad ideas.

    In today’s world, that would include meme warfare. So to speak.
    https://mises.org/blog/mises-understood-meme-magic
    Quote Originally Posted by Ron Paul View Post
    The intellectual battle for liberty can appear to be a lonely one at times. However, the numbers are not as important as the principles that we hold. Leonard Read always taught that "it's not a numbers game, but an ideological game." That's why it's important to continue to provide a principled philosophy as to what the role of government ought to be, despite the numbers that stare us in the face.
    Quote Originally Posted by Origanalist View Post
    This intellectually stimulating conversation is the reason I keep coming here.

  6. #5
    "Let it not be said that we did nothing." - Dr. Ron Paul. "Stand up for what you believe in, even if you are standing alone." - Sophie Magdalena Scholl
    "War is the health of the State." - Randolph Bourne "Freedom is the answer. ... Now, what's the question?" - Ernie Hancock.

  7. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by AZJoe View Post
    http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0148668/quotes/qt0294865

    I was in the unenviable position of being for the war, but against the troops.

  8. #7
    When the interwebs does a meme, it's called a funny.
    When the military does a meme, it's called propaganda.
    When politicians do memes, it's called bullsh!t.

    There wasn’t much demand for memes promoting Hillary Clinton or Jeb Bush even when we were being force fed them by the mainstream media.
    lol
    Last edited by Jamesiv1; 07-23-2017 at 09:10 AM.
    1. Don't lie.
    2. Don't cheat.
    3. Don't steal.
    4. Don't kill.
    5. Don't commit adultery.
    6. Don't covet what your neighbor has, especially his wife.
    7. Honor your father and mother.
    8. Remember the Sabbath and keep it Holy.
    9. Don’t use your Higher Power's name in vain, or anyone else's.
    10. Do unto others as you would have them do to you.

    "For the love of money is the root of all evil..." -- I Timothy 6:10, KJV

  9. #8
    "He's talkin' to his gut like it's a person!!" -me
    "dumpster diving isn't professional." - angelatc
    "You don't need a medical degree to spot obvious bullshit, that's actually a separate skill." -Scott Adams
    "When you are divided, and angry, and controlled, you target those 'different' from you, not those responsible [controllers]" -Q

    "Each of us must choose which course of action we should take: education, conventional political action, or even peaceful civil disobedience to bring about necessary changes. But let it not be said that we did nothing." - Ron Paul

    "Paul said "the wave of the future" is a coalition of anti-authoritarian progressive Democrats and libertarian Republicans in Congress opposed to domestic surveillance, opposed to starting new wars and in favor of ending the so-called War on Drugs."



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  11. #9
    “[T]he enshrinement of constitutional rights necessarily takes certain policy choices off the table.” (Heller, 554 U.S., at ___, 128 S.Ct., at 2822.)

    How long before "going liberal" replaces "going postal"?

  12. #10
    “[T]he enshrinement of constitutional rights necessarily takes certain policy choices off the table.” (Heller, 554 U.S., at ___, 128 S.Ct., at 2822.)

    How long before "going liberal" replaces "going postal"?

  13. #11
    "He's talkin' to his gut like it's a person!!" -me
    "dumpster diving isn't professional." - angelatc
    "You don't need a medical degree to spot obvious bullshit, that's actually a separate skill." -Scott Adams
    "When you are divided, and angry, and controlled, you target those 'different' from you, not those responsible [controllers]" -Q

    "Each of us must choose which course of action we should take: education, conventional political action, or even peaceful civil disobedience to bring about necessary changes. But let it not be said that we did nothing." - Ron Paul

    "Paul said "the wave of the future" is a coalition of anti-authoritarian progressive Democrats and libertarian Republicans in Congress opposed to domestic surveillance, opposed to starting new wars and in favor of ending the so-called War on Drugs."



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