Jim:
Contrary to your apparent slew of letters, I thought that the Gray Man article article made a lot of sense. Come the time that the government actually moves against [gun owners] to that extent, we can be picked off one by one, leaving a lot of widows and orphans, or we can survive and live. A dead patriot does no one any good.
The “Gray Man” theory is thoroughly fleshed out in a book by Jefferson Mack, entitled “Invisible Resistance to Tyranny.” I was deeply affected by this book, and encourage others to read it.
For the record, I would be considered paranoid by most “normal” people. I despise our government, and despair at the looming storm on the horizon. I don’t participate in the frauds they call elections. I work at a good job and mind my own business. I am far from wealthy, but have laid up some of the basics to survive. Including privately purchased guns, ammo, and food. I will never buy another gun from a dealer.
When the time comes, I will have to make the decision on how to survive. I believe our government is far more intrusive than most of us can imagine already. When and if it strikes to remove our few remaining freedoms, we will have to choose whether to survive living “normal” lives, or be killed for our beliefs.
There is no honor in needless death. – David W.
Hello!
I must disagree with lots of your correspondent who stated: “What good will it do “Gray Man” to teach his children of Liberty after he has given their Liberties away?”, et cetera.
Any real Liberty-supporting organization must have a plan for the worst: The police state has made a list of anybody who has participated in any political action, selectively arrested and executed them.
Or, as I have stated in letter to some technocrat, “It’s honest to try to win. It’s stupid to assume you will win”.
Examples:
Negative: In Israel, the right-wing organizations fiercely fought against leaving Gaza settlements. But they didn’t do anything to prepare for leaving, and now 8,000 [former] Gaza settlers are still living in cardboard boxes without work.
Positive: Long ago I have read the story. During WWII in some Yugoslav town there were partisans, actively fighting against Hitler. They stated that their victories were due to intelligence from mysterious Agent Red Star. When Agent Red Star died with rifle in her hands, partisans at last announced who she was. Everybody was shocked to find that the famous Agent was a prostitute hated by everybody because she slept with Nazis only and was the only one in all town who met occupiers with flowers.
She sacrificed her life fortune and sacred honor for Victory and for her people. – Thor
Jim,
I’m going to play the devil’s advocate here and play the flip side of “The Gray Man”. I’m not going to extol any perceived benefits of cowering down and accepting the mark or sitting idly by while tyranny encroaches us. However, strategically I think there might be some benefit to be gained by having a man on the inside, if you will. Whether this person or persons will be in the military, civil service, government agencies, even a regular citizen (who is privy to the control grid that may be in place) or a combination thereof is largely irrelevant. What is important is the fact that having an insider in the machine may prove to be invaluable if it ever devolves into an all out Them versus Us. Throughout history double agents and traitors on the inside have proved far more damaging than brute force attacks from the outside. I hate to reference literary rubbish like The Turner Diaries, but in that “book” there was a group of people who could be said will not receive the mark (who were de facto “marked” men, for lack of a better word) and clean people who could be said will receive the mark that were there for support and logistics. Or to take another example, during WWII there were the partisans who performed direct actions against the enemy, and then there were the regular villagers who offered them food, shelter, and other aid while giving the outward appearance of conformity. Just something to think about as many people, especially those with families, might think twice about resisting the mark when their families are sick, starving, or dying.
A rock that is thrown against an engine probably wont do much, but if that rock is inside bouncing around it has the potential to completely obliterate the engine.
As always, all the best to you and yours. – O.E.
JWR,
You posted several letters ‘rebutting’ the Gray Man theory. There must be some “very brave” souls out there. Although I have taken, saved, and witnessed many lives go and stay, I can’t comprehend fighting a fight knowing I would die leaving my family as servants/slaves/prostitutes, etc. Possibly the Gray man lives on to fight another day. Possibly the Gray man does not, and stays on as a father figure to his children so that they (God forbid) can win a war he knows he cannot. It is easy to sit behind a PC and type a courageous letter. It is much harder to kill (hardest of all), leave a friend to die, die yourself, and worst of all leave your family alone for a lost cause. Taken in literal context this letter is offensive to anyone who has fought for any cause. Taken in a figurative context, the letter is 100% on the money.
To all the tough and carelessly brave out there, thank you for your courage. To the other Gray Men not wanting to die, and not wanting to martyr, I say: hold fast. God will judge, time will remember and for goodness sake never never never give up.
This is not being subservient, cowardly or submissive. In your novel “Patriots” nobody stormed an armed bunker to prove a point. Just because they would look cool to others surviving in trying times. This is being smart when the time comes. – K.
Jim,
I had a conservation with a friend a while back. He said he was afraid “they” would be coming for our guns soon. I told him, it is like back in WW ll, the Nazis collecting. It is your duty as an American to shoot the collectors, or at least as many as you can. There are way more gun owners than there are gun collectors, so they will loose. They will run out of collectors, even is we can only ‘get’ one of them, at each confiscation.
This is where I draw the line. If ‘they’ get the drop on me, I may not be able to stop any, but I will do what I can to defend our nation from illegal confiscation and tyranny. – Henry Bowman
Mr. Rawles,
My fiancee’ and I do not agree with the Gray Man theory and we are willing to stand up and fight for our country as our capabilities will allow.
We also feel we must speak out about the contributors that have posted survival advice from their retreats in South America and the Islands. There is an old Irish Saying that goes: “Over the fence is out“. Those folks have no advice to give American Patriots who choose to stay and try to protect our way of life here in America. As far as we are concerned they are just Gray Men who have fled the country and are too cowardly to stick it out here and try to take back the way of life we all used to enjoy. We don’t want to hear about their preparations or their retreat or anything about them.
Yes, we also are planning our retreat to the mountains in the near future but when the time comes to stand up and be counted we feel that we will be able to do that more effectively out of the city. We will not be hiding in a cave when the time comes to fight. Sincerely, – Irishgirl
Mr. Editor,
In defense of the “Gray Man” article , historically oppressed people have quietly rebelled against their oppressors.
Just because some keyboard commando says he’ll fight to the death or “vote from the rooftops” doesn’t mean he won’t be peeing his pants or turning in his neighbors when the government comes to confiscate firearms or impose new laws/rules.
We’ve all seen what happens to people that defy the government and that’s unlikely to change. Just as England, Australia and Canada have given up their rights , so shall we and it will be done to the cheering of our fellow countrymen.- Ulysses Grant
Jim,
Some of your readers commented on the “cowardly” nature of E.’s post to your blog “Letter Re: The Gray Man in the Coming Storm” and I find their responses are predicated on idealism and not on an objective assessment of the State apparatus and the comorbid social, cultural and political factors supporting it.
The flag-waving patriot, bumper-sticker aficionado and cammie-clad militia man all draw attention to themselves, and these behaviors, when taken together and combined with other data, create a behavior cluster that might draw unwelcome investigative scrutiny. The idea that one person can make a difference by opposing the State in it’s present condition is dangerous not only because one patriot is removed from action but also because such “successes” embolden the State and it’s Sheeple followers thus strengthen perception of the State’s legitimacy. One person opposing the State allows the State’s resources to bear on one target and without a larger rebellion to distribute those resources (in the first case this is a “many to one” problem, the second is a “many to many” problem), the State wins.
The counter-insurgency in Iraq has changed the paradigm of combat and law enforcement. Intelligence Based Operations are the cornerstone of modern counter-insurgency (COIN) and this has created the specter of Intelligence Based Policing. Fundamentally, these involved pre-emptive Find, Fix Kill/Arrest through collection, social network analysis and application of Operations Research. Collection is key, meaning data has to be fresh and relevant. There is no want of intelligence on US persons. The FBI maintains vast holdings of such in Clarksburg, West Virginia and commercial providers like Choicepoint, Accurint and LEXIS-NEXIS contribute greatly to this Panopticon. So, the citizen cannot help be collected upon, however we may conceal certain practices and behaviors through covert and clandestine techniques—one of which is not to draw attention to themselves or activities. That’s were the Gray Man has an advantage—in denying and degrading collection. One can resist overtly about RFID chips being against your religion, but the State cares not—it is it’s own religion.
The American War for Independence was a linear, 1st Generation battlefield, not a net-centric 4th Generation battlefield with an immense intelligence infrastructure supporting it In short, it is difficult to conceal oneself, but concealing certain activities is possible. Future success goes not to flag waving ideologues, but skillful practitioners. Remain uninteresting. – Mark in Potomac
Jim,
I strongly suggest reading Andy McNab’s book Bravo Two Zero in which the British SAS soldier who was captured behind enemy lines while hunting Scud [missile launcher]s in 1991. McNab spoke of the SAS’s concept of being the “Gray Man”. It served him in pretending to be nothing more than a mere, hapless soldier caught up (pun intended) in some bad circumstances. The concept of the Gray Man is that he doesn’t draw attention to himself, people won’t likely have remembered meeting him, his appearance nondescript. In essence, he’s just any other face in the crowd.
In our preps, that’s the way we should all strive to appear, for the old slogan “the nail that sticks up gets hammered down”. That does not mean to acquiesce to any scheme that our government may foist upon us. The author’s plan may keep him and his hidden and out of sight, but does nothing for his brethren. Not to appear to be a tin-foil hat wearer, but he time for OPSEC and good, solid planning (both logistical and learning) is now, before something untoward occurs.
As an aside, those who enjoy Bravo Two Zero will also like McNab’s non-fiction Immediate Action and the book The One That Got Away by Chris Ryan, the only patrol member that night who escaped capture or death. Truly harrowing stuff.
I know it’s somewhat of a cliche, but Sun-Tzu said it best “Every battle is won before it is fought”.
Thanks and keep up the good work. – Ken B. in New York
Sir:
I would refer critics of the Gray Man concept to an article regarding the phenomenon of standing up to Leviathan, and what happens to people who do so before the time is ripe. “The Trouble With Ragnar Danneskjöld” Best, – Rory Hand
Dear Mr. Rawles:
Thank you again for the wonderful site. It really is informative all the time. I’m writing today in response to the responses to the Gray Man. I read the original Gray Man story by E., and I completely understood his point of view. I was rather surprised by the angry reactions to that letter. At the same time, I understand their point of view. Many people want to be good citizens and fight on the side of good. But to those people, I ask today, “Who is the enemy?” While there are many people who are willing to die for freedom and America, how many are willing to do more than that? The greatest enemy and threat to freedom in America, and in every country, is government. But in America, who is government? It’s your neighbors and others. So who are these citizens going to fight? Are these people who are opposed to the Gray Man ideas willing to openly fight the government of today? Are they willing to resist with violence now, the very people who are in government? Or are they willing to spend the rest of their lives in jail, separated from their friends and family? Or does the strategy of the Gray Man and nonviolence a better idea right now, in this country? – Ogre
James:
Reading this “Gray Man” debate reminds me that it is time to re-watch the 1980s television mini-series “Amerika“. It is pretty ponderously long (a 3 hour story that they squeezed into 11 hours), but it did have some choice moments and it made people think. Here is a paraphrase of a quote from a minor actor in the final episode:: “Ten years ago, I buried my guns, because I didn’t know who to aim them at. Well, now I do now!” Here is the advice of a Viet Nam vet: Be safe, keep a low profile, and stack your ammo cans and rations deep. – Alan G. (RVN, ’67-’68 and ’70-’71)