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The following, alas, is still only a proposal. No claims or promises are expressed or implied. 

“He who has a thousand friends has not a friend to spare,

And he who has one enemy will meet him everywhere.”

 

— Ali ibn Abi Talib, 4th caliph (602-661)

 

 

“In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends”  —  Martin Luther King, Jr.

 

“Friends may come and go, but enemies accumulate.”  — Thomas Jones

 

 

“A free society is one where it is safe to be unpopular.”  — Adlai Ewing Stevenson

My crucial struggle at expression in call to action

In the words of Bonnie Wasmund “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” Alas, however, to quote Elbert Hubbard: “Many a man's reputation would not know his character if they met on the street.” Indeed how you make them feel, often consists of the sensations from receiving malicious gossip from others behind your back, or even from cunning deflection, meaning how their feelings where manipulatively conditioned, partially as by display or implicit threat of shame, in your presence or otherwise by association. Especially in coordinated collusion of peer pressure, the sly triggering of such fearful approval seeking motivations socially, affords ready and significant control, especially of people howsoever lacking the autonomy for owning their own feelings in order ever to break the spell of cognitive dissonance, confusion and intimidation, the backbone of heteronymous behavioral structure. Such is the covert relational hostility of serial bullying, along with the conniving logistics of engineered social isolation and ongoing disruption, all well coordinated and facilitated by cliquish cronyism, perpetual endemic petty conspiracy.

Alas that people who will readily believe one another about getting mugged or worse, balk incredulously at the seemingly paranoid tales of the conniving collusion of serial bullies. Taboo often serves as an heteronymous reinforcing mechanism of hypocrisy, denial, manipulation, coercion, oppression and persecution. Damaging malicious gossip in rationalization of abuse of power, is often laden with innuendo and taboo. Moreover, despite all recent progress and breakthroughs in public consciousness raising, the issue of serial bullying also remains shrouded in denial and targets of serial abuse are still conditioned and indoctrinated into learned helpless passivity like unto little angels. Particularly, the central idea of CliqueBusters being the very topic of fighting back in any way especially without the cooperation of whatever authorities if any, and who, after all, are so often very much part of the problem, especially by covert or clandestine operation no matter how stringently moral and utterly non violent, remains deeply taboo from all discussion. And yet what is most taboo, is the truth, reality, the actual unspoken functional social expectations, the subtext of social integration, ranging between timid heteronomy at the one extreme, to the other extreme of whatever is genuinely entailed in toughening up as they used to say, before all of that became politically incorrect, to wit: Any credible threat by whatever means, indeed if not the exercise of physical violence in demonstration thereof, then via subtext, the nonverbal expression and body language of solidarity in the will thereto. All of these obscure confused conflicting and morally ambiguous expectations, such momentous and fateful life options and dilemmas, all need urgently to be respectfully and openly discussed in good faith sensemaking in order to be rendered intelligibly transparent once and all and at long last.

Serial bullying is repeated abusive expression and/or action, whether howsoever overt or devious and clandestine, directed so as to harm to the target, place them in reasonable (not histrionic or trumped up) fear of harm, infringement upon the rights that disrupts their lives or creates a hostile social environment permeated with threat, intimidation, ridicule, or insult that is so severe or pervasive as to produce any of the aforementioned effects. Indeed, retaliation is any form of intimidation, reprisal, or harassment directed against any who would howsoever support or include a target of bullying and exclusion. And civility is the inculcation of a social contract of shared values never to enable but to continually resist, suppress, expose and undermine all serial bullying and to protect individual rights. CliqueBusters is conceived as ongoing bystander promotion and intervention of guerilla Transactional Antithesis in service of civility.

The violation that is serial bullying, the degrading, distinctly uncivil demeaning and destructive situation of persistent ongoing abuse in a hostile social environment with complete impunity and no recognition in practice and recourse to upholding individual standing, autonomy, rights, joy, opportunity, safety and intrinsic worth, actingout contempt and inequality thereby, replete with the common place of victim blaming and scapegoating, even quasi-legislatively validating cruelty as an entitlement and amoral Sadistic superiority, breaches and shatters dignity to the core and engenders the traumatic distress of Existential helplessness defined as the shattering despair of utter dependency upon others surrounding and entirely bereft of trust and hope therein.

Woody Allen said that “Eighty percent of success is showing up.” But not for targeted individuals of serial bullying and ostracism. It's worse than invisibility! However shrouded in taboo, the adversative memetics of covert relational hostility and peer abuse, flagrant abuse of power, injustice, social ostracism, malicious gossip, orchestrated harassment and cockblocking are all predatory civil rights violations under USC 18 Section 241 and profoundly destructive. Even under whatever sly hypocritical lunatic persecutory vigilante pretext of combating howsoever vaguely demonized mythically threatening undesirables, eccentrics, dissidents, vulnerable socially awkward targets of opportunity, often our best and brightest, the manipulatively devious actingout of cliquish bullying is relentlessly divisive, abusive, corrosive and corrupting, sexually and emotionally exploitative, and above all: anticompetitive intimidation, heteronomy and conformity. Cliquish bullies are the kind of people who feel most deeply that life just isn't fair unless they have everything, and everyone else has nothing. And their practiced proficiency is in nothing less than routine dominance and the monopolization of opportunity in every aspect of life, the control of social interconnection for every purpose. -yes, especially sex.

Peacefully dealing with incompatible people is crucial to living in a society. Arguably, dealing with people you can't stand may constitute the very definition of society as we have ever known it, different people with opposite tastes and conflicting personalities one way or another pressed together and somehow cooperating, often through gritted teeth, in any balance of hard bargaining and reciprocity. Exactly such true to life drama often demands if not self control and deference on the part of oneself and others, then any credible threat to keep them at bay, be that of effective personal vengeance, concerted mutual protection or even due process for all, deepening upon upon fictional genre or actual situation.

But in the absence of any such restraining compunction or deterrent at all, there is only antisocial abusive impunity, bullying and submission thereto. We the bullied, are not without responsibility to network, to learn how, to stand together and organize, from such contact as we do, indeed, establish, despite all the most perfidiously orchestrated harassment and covert relational hostility. Let's toughen up, like they used to tell us, and then make them eat their callous words and regret that good advice!

A serious and just response to bullying in any social context, must explicitly recognize that while bullies may indeed sometimes bully one another, no, it does not actually "take two to tango." Indeed, in the words of Gustav Vasa: "One does not have peace longer than one's neighbour wants." And the bully is the obvious aggressor. A serious response to bullying must therefore reject willfully blind Pollyanna sweet reason and negotiation so ineffective against unreasonable bullies, and reject the utter denial, scapegoating and victim blaming that inevitably accrues. A serious response to bullying must reject entirely linkage of howsoever remediation of human imperfection with upholdance of such civil rights as freedom from bullying. A serious response to bullying must recognize that bullying is impossible to adapt to, and that while self improvement is laudable, such may nevertheless remain questionable as a response to bullying. Obviously, self improvement is better served by first providing a safe environment, free from bullying. And for that matter, a beleaguered target of bullying howsoever simply reacting even a little strangely, as manifesting inner conflict under pressure to peacefully endure adversity, or even struggling at all to object, resist or protest, is not thereby "asking for it." Indeed, any decent humane perspective upon bullying must at long last the extreme grace under fire of targets of bullying, who's forbearance the bullies routinely exploit. If and no sooner do bullies successfully drive out their targets, then only the more brazen, do they immediately choose new ones.

A serious response to bullying must then recognize the inadequacy of goody two-shoes social skills remediation directed towards reducing whatever howsoever premised supposed elicitation of bullying on the part of targets of bullying. An effective and just response to bullying must uphold individual rights, differences, limitations, nuance, eccentricities and foibles, let alone talents as may inspire envy and virtues that accrue resentment from serial bullies and their apologists, while deploring all that amounts to treatment of dissidence, especially all Behavioral Modification no matter how "Cognitive," for targets bullying, as willful malpractice, being a'priori abrogation of Freud's injunction against suggestion that is the core Medical Ethic of Psychotherapy. The proper focus instead should be upon stopping the bullies from bullying and pressing the salient question: Just what will that take, really?

A serious, effective and just response to bullying must acknowledge as has become expert consensus in the anti-bullying community, that bullying unexposed and unpunished persists, and therefore recognize that appropriate social aptitudes under conditions of hostility, one way or another may well include howsoever adversative functionality, indeed credible threat. We must organize, radicalize and frame action  agendas. Targets of bullying must no longer be pressed to become passive little angels and endure ongoing abuse simply in order to pander to craven public squeamishness with rising conflict. Loneliness has been discovered to propagate within social networks, when hurt and frustration manifest in malaise of reclusive withdrawal sour disposition that progressively renders others exposed similarly emotionally depressed, disagreeable and socially withdrawn. And of course, unresponsive or outright hostile social environments of ostracism and bullying are even more devastating both upon targeted individuals and what social networks remain accessible to them. Targets of bullying need to recover coherent organized coping ability, hope, and yes: the dignity that only inhabits aggression. We must fight back! Serious discourse in framing appropriate rules of engagement against bullying must reject and deplore all kneejerk scapegoating and victim blaming in craven characterization of resistance and conflict as merely vengeful on the part of targets of bullying. No, we must not merely sink to their level: This is war, and the primary overriding objective of war is nothing less than to destroy the enemy's ability to do harm. All else may remain open to discourse.

This electronic document, while serving as counterpropaganda polemic against the most slippery and disingenuous apologetics, malignant pretzel-logic, deliberately impenetrable Obscurantism, willfully helpless and repressive goody two-shoes Pacifism on the one hand or on the other hand, the most brazen baiting with sly victim blaming that outright panders to evil, indeed in the face of all such implacable resistance at all most generally to raise consciousness in regards to the pandemic menace of bullying, nevertheless the primary outreach herein remains for anyone genuinely exasperated enough to at all seriously consider to conspire with me in this, a modest proposal in guerilla social engineering more definaive and reliable societal resistance to protractedly escalating peer abuse! Beyond awareness and the sociological background information provided, there remains the dire need to come together, face reality, frankly assess the situation and at long last frame an adequate agenda, the need for an organization, broad based logistical support, a clearing house for reciprocal alliances to conduct innovative outreach and intervention. -Even by low guile without apology, by whatever non violent clandestine or covert action to ferret out, expose, denounce, ridicule, defuse, outmaneuver, disrupt and undermine bullying and to befriend and defend targets of bullying even from well organized and orchestrated harassment, covert relational hostility, isolation and ostracism with protractedly escalating syndromes of shunning and mobbing. ambient or stealth abuse, neglect, abuse of power and defamation. CliqueBusters is a proposal to come together and deploy a new and different intervention strategy for bullyproofing. Email me privately if it's sensitive, or post to the forum in order to engage public controversy! And not just about bullying in general, but preferably at all also about Clique Busters in specific, please.

First will be established the nature and motivation for bullying from it's ancient and natural advantages, then the destructive toll which bullying has always taken, then support for the worst case assumption, to whit, that existing recourse is all too often not adequate, indeed that the authorities, such as may exist, may actually worsen the problem. Finally will be proposed in a distinct paradigm shift, organizing in new and different ways, with a unique and distinct body of practices and procedures, to monitor, recognize and respond to bullying by new and innovative measures. -The justifiability all whereof will be duly questioned and then seriously addressed as it deserves to be.

There is a common dilemma in writing, that to omit background obscures by lack of context, while to include adequate and extensive background obscures by detracting from whatever central new idea. Worse, engaging against the craven weasely denials of apologists likewise feeds into their diversionary slight of hand, while, in the alternative, virulent lies uncontested stand and propagate unassailed in veracity and consequence. And so I regret to impose upon the reader to work their way through, finding whatever they need hopefully included, in order then to glean all that is crucial and central.

As an author finding ones own voice even identity and POV, Point Of View, beyond tone, syntax and structure alone, that is the moment, finally, of the lucid and vivid articulation of theme, gaining momentum and central clarity from whence all else unfolds smoothly and powerfully. Whereas to be relationally bullied, manipulated, confused, invalidated, isolated from social connection and robbed of ones voice, is classic reversal crushing unto despair.

George Orwell observed the difficulty in framing ones thoughts, when there is no one with whom to communicate them. By the Metaphor of newspeak, in '1984' Orwell also most famously noted how a culture in systematic denial may actually strip the very language of expression of whatever taboo ideas and observations. Indeed, by tracking the changes on this very page via the WayBack at archive.org, it can be seen how I have however awkwardly struggled to expose cockblocking before I knew that word, and likewise for slut shaming, both being after all simply instances of covert relational hostility, another very cogent term sometimes denounced in stubborn pretence that there is simply no such utter nonsense! But it is the reality that is crazy and crazy making.

For in the words of Thomas S. Szasz in 'The Myth of Mental Illness' New York: Harper & Row 1974. "This…is the essential communicational dilemma in which many weak or oppressed persons find themselves vis-à-vis those who are stronger or who oppress them: if they speak softly, they will not receive a hearing; if they raise their voices literally, they will be considered impertinent; and if they raise their voices metaphorically, they will be diagnosed as insane." - or, presumably, otherwise generally dismissed, or marginalized as however kooky or less than credible, often subject to the effective ostracism of social mockery and with utter impunity, even that which Sam Vaknin has dubbed: ambient or stealth abuse. In other words, the proverbial porridge will never be the just the right metaphorical temperature, but either too cool to raise alarm, or too scalding hot for good manners and the delicate comfort of powers that be of status quo ever turning a deaf ear. Indeed, all such efforts will generally only backfire one way or the other, given the power relations of bullying as they stand. Anyone no matter how graceful, considerate and forthright a mensch, may come to be treated as a pest or worse, purely because of the irresponsible awkward squeamish self serving hypocrites.

Even Gandhi in his heart privately endorsed war against the Nazis, much as he exploited the crisis to speed an end to British rule in India. After all, there is never really any question as to whether or not to resort to any measure, no matter how extreme, let alone anything the more measured and moderate, but only as to under what conceivable circumstances and as to whatever viable alternatives if any. Nonetheless: The two most enthusiastically positive email respondents to CliqueBusters, nevertheless would barely be pressed to acknowledge and simply and adamantly refused to discuss the central concept of open or even covert or clandestine even though utterly nonviolent intervention against bullying!

One of them, in his own emotionally charged experience and reflection, resonated strongly with my prose, while the other greatly valued the insight and information resource. But what was sad was explaining to another abused and vulnerable soul that no such organization as CliqueBusters as yet exists to protect them. For even after all this time, CliqueBusters remains merely a proposal.

Typical weak advice the likes of Be Bully Free - Tips & Tricks is frequently proffered, coming too little too late. Conflict averse cowards have even sunk so far into Bullyspeak apologetics as to complain that Clique Busters seeks to bully the bullies, thus sinking to their level, and that two wrongs don't make a right. I counter that the repertoire of Clique Busters techniques and responses are well within the conscience even of Pacifism, turning the tables, throwing the curve ball, playing the Transactional Antithesis, subversively elevating with justice, the mimesis of the bullies from scapegoating into a valuable morality play upon civility. And even then, as intended only for deployment given the failure of compassion, sweet reason and peace making, and as an alternative to the scapegoating, victim blaming and breakdown, conditioning of victims to passivity which so often follows, when there is a failure to stand up to unreasonable bullies who depend upon opposition being so completely wishy-washy. 

The Meaningless Futility of Life

The very first thing anyone ever pays attention to as an infant and later a young child is whatever one needs to survive in physical reality. Indeed, the very first lesson you learnt, was that your survival depended upon others. Specifically, you learnt what to do (and later, to say) in order to get what you needed. You learnt that when others approved of you, they would nurture you. When they disapproved of you, they would withdraw that nurturing.

You learnt to pay attention to whatever gave you the ability to control your environment. You discovered what made your care-givers pay attention to you and give you what you wanted. Later you learnt what you could do to get what you wanted on your own: grasp, reach, crawl, walk and so forth.

The basic need to survive focused your attention on whatever would aid the process of receiving approval and control. In turn, then others molded not only behavior, but even perception and world view.

When it comes to reaching out to others, there is always the direct approach to simply court whomever the other personally. Or, indeed, another indirect and even somewhat devious strategy, or courtship display, especially if one is adept at socializing and can make oneself the center of attention, is to join in with the peer group of another, and pay most of one's attention to them especially if they are of the other sex, so that they will pay attention in return; for the attention of the peer group must impress the other of the advantages in association, and also must illicit envy in the whomever the other so that they will become desirous of one's attention and therefore pay one better attention. Either way, however, there are the pitfalls of jealousy and hostility from whatever competing vested interests, cliques of hypocritical self serving bullies, unless one discerns and pays whatever their sycophantic price of collusion to ingratiate oneself and/or/else can adequately intimidate them.

Otherwise, that is why so many work so hard simply to blend in and escape notice rather than to shine. For such are the incentives and disincentives, reward and punishment, to condition people that they will yearn to belong the group, when it is actually more directly interpersonal relationship, friendship, that they are really desperate for. -To crush all misfits and dissidents and render the masses attachment disordered but socially skilled, sacrificing deeper and genuine robust and healthy autonomous social development essential to freedom in favor of conformist and heteronymous socialization in an ongoing program inculcated under the Inductivism of what passes for education, with the effect of better recruitment in the preservation of status quo by the eager and ubiquitous Fifth Columns of the Reactionaries even within ostensibly or nominally open and democratic society, wherein more straightforward and pervasive blatantly dictatorial brutality will be unacceptable but tactics of, for all intents and purposes, injurious participatory mass brainwash are normal, even banal.

Because in all things, the substance beyond mere form, the dynamic and flexible social engineering principles, personal WhistleBlowing, good sportsmanship and responsible values of rational democratic progress are systematic doubt, hope in the honest embrace of fallibility and tolerance for uncertainty, substantive discourse, debate of disputes, criticism without punishment and no insult taken, free inquiry into problems openly and publicly without fear of punishment, indeed, open unfounded speculation about different case scenarios pursuant to any number of varied and different proposed measures, without need of conforming or in any way limiting said speculations to any accepted quasi-official position.

The very values and aptitudes ever fostered in brainstorming!

And all pursuant to experiment, trial and error, the vital opportunity for all manner of ongoing reevaluation and revision, open ended correction of mistakes and improvement at all levels, piecemeal, without bloodshed, violence or even strife as such, in any culture of respect.

Civilized adversarial systems and healthy attitudes, formal or informal, that are the bulwark of our precious freedoms, are predicated upon systematic doubt. But the antiseptic and dehumanizing demands pressed by blind loyalty and faith of conformity and compliance, crushing, silencing, excluding or marginalizing all oppositional protest as a matter of course, either preclude entirely or eviscerate and enfeeble, all doubt and curiosity at all, whatsoever.

As appetite or disposition, beyond the debased pandering fantasy and voyeurism of prurient gossip, real curiosity promotes meaningful connection, not only exploration and learning, but empathy, care, concern, compassion, much as, beyond bitter insularity, sheer credulity promotes not only Criticality but justice and fairness, all of which are excluded by utter indifference, plain cowardice and approval seeking conformism. Autonomy, responsible risk management, creativity, curiosity about reality and individuals easily comes into conflict on every level, with adaptation, risk phobic attentiveness to social cues upon which so much depends, that must so often guard itself from curiosity, compassion and conscience, instead promoting bigoted prejudgment, irresponsibility and malice by rendering impunity for jealous rage.

“There is in fact a manly and legitimate passion for equality that spurs all men to wish to be strong and esteemed. This passion tends to elevate the lesser to the rank of the greater. But one also finds in the human heart a depraved taste for equality, which impels the weak to want to bring the strong down to their level, and which reduces men to preferring equality in servitude to inequality in freedom.” 

 

— Alexis de Tocqueville

Bullying must be predicated, one way or another, if not upon captivity or restriction in one sense or another, then manipulation, somehow getting sucked in against better judgment, indeed, as individuals, in life, are routinely drawn into freedom inhibiting interaction patterns, interpersonally and with the larger social environment and institutions. And whatever theoretically wider freedom of choice offered will tend to be actually encumbered (both by bureaucracy outright and simple lack of facilitation or logistical support) with user unfriendly bewildering and unmanageable complexity as to render it practically speaking, unavailable to most people, all but the most socially capable and steady nerved, regardless of real talent and ability.

Otherwise, who would choose to endure such protractedly escalating of syndromes of shunning and mobbing, bullying and abuse? And the damage should never be underestimated or taken for granted. And yet what is omitted from 'Complex PTSD A National Center for PTSD Fact Sheet' is even mention of the harm resulting even from constant low level stress, let alone anything any more harrowing including ambient or stealth abuse, never mind only the very worst life and death ordeals. And so it should come as little surprise that the conditions of captivity listed in 'Complex PTSD A National Center for PTSD Fact Sheet' are woefully incomplete:

To begin with, at whatever whim of fate, we are each and all disgorged helpless into a condition of captivity by dependency, the family, better or worse, invariably dysfunctional to some degree, a misfortune only to be summarily compounded by yet more demeaning conditions of captivity and unremitting constant low level stress, particularly in education and employment.

Or, as so excellently well expressed in those immortal driving staccato lyrics of The Godfathers:

    "Birth, School, Work, Death"

Hence, another description of Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder might be life itself, the human condition as we know it. Because, in nature, more often than not, happiness is but an empty and unlikely hope existing only to perpetuate struggle. In the alternative, whatever idealistic notions of happiness and dignity are unnatural, either democratic and historically recent, belonging to the technologically Industrialized World, or else embodying whatever untenable nostalgia for mythic innocence.

Maslow's famous "Pyramid" Hierarchy of Needs begins with sheer biological life support plus amenities. Alienation and helplessness already begin to undermine safety and security concerns that not only project all such immediate practical concerns into the uncertain future, but also encompass the reassurance of defense, care and nurture. But alienation is even more obstructive to social needs along with those of self esteem and self actualization.

The two possible active means to security, or else actual threat thereto, are either the self or others, society, which brings us to the social needs. The social needs are connection, love, sex and respect, or failing that, their manipulative counterfeit of conditionality and helpless exploitation. Against which self esteem, as we have seen, also a function of the same drive for security, is fulfillable only by empowerment, control over one's environment, and, the more so, self-actualization is also empowerment, peak experience of fulfillment by true vocation, towards realization of full potential, investigation, knowing and understanding, creativity, motivated goals ever put forth and causes. Hence, in actuality, true love and respect must empower, if not the lofty pinnacle of self realization, then at least functional autonomy. Indeed, all self realizing true vocation, investigation, creativity, motivated goals ever put forth and causes, must somewhere and somehow aim at and relate to some manner of utility in the needs of the individual, in other words, clear added value to whatever specific target market(s). Or else they will be abstract beyond correspondence to reality! -Pointless obsession... Thus, social needs cannot neatly be met first, only then whetting some hither to dormant loftier apatite for self realization. For, clearly, alienation worms deeper than that.

Hence, depending upon variable tolerance for sheer petty conditionality as a price for security at all, many simply yearn and strive to fit in one way or another, while others in society who undergo positive maladjustment therefore aspire to autonomy. the free self-organization and administration of their own affairs from the bottom upward.

For alienation is the condition in which individuals find themselves at cross purposes with, and dominated by, forces and institutions of our own creation, driven by their own Monopolistic agendas, confronting the individual as overbearing, loveless, conditional, bullying, threatening and manipulative alien powers.

The dimensions of alienation include powerlessness, meaninglessness, normlessness (anomie), social isolation, cultural estrangement and self-estrangement.

Many conform as best they may. Many live in all manner of learned helplessness, frustrated denial and fantasy. Others still, only lash out, one way or another. But can there be any better free choice? That is the mission of FoolQuest.com, the struggle with unhappiness, against alienation and for self-actualization or at least freedom and autonomy, on various fronts. The Clique Busters concept, in specific, addresses the obstacles of conditionality and malice, continual and systematic abuse of power that is the very antithesis of self realization. In a nut shell, Clique Busters seeks to contend with bullying.

G Vs E

Gresham’s Law states that banality, the overwhelming volume of that which is either inherently of low quality or else poorly directed drives out that which is unique, of better value, or resources including effort and attention well focused.

In other words, that quantity can and does overwhelm quality. And this already profoundly impacts all evolutionary processes.

It means that fitness is not the same thing as excellence. That evolution of whatever sort need not actually favor excellence. On the contrary, evolution may favor the easiest thing to be rather than the highest quality end product. There will always tend to be more iterations of the easiest thing, idea or person to be, as the most likely outcome. It's just Entropy.

So, if bad money does, indeed, drive out good, and if, likewise, dull repetitively inane vapid small talk ever does drown out novelty and value and thus bore silly and drive away potentially better contacts, then what less and how less deleterious can be the impact of maliciously deliberate pettiness upon our lives in driving out any hope of better at all?

What all this means, sadly, is that we can easily and certainly anticipate Terrorism as a Means of self-actualization, the term here used to denote any savor in life, any sort of excellence in one's own experience thereof, especially by way of any sort of true productivity, and that just such self-actualization will always tend to come under assault one way or another unless adequately defended. The exception to that rule being where the easiest way to have anything good in life is concerned, namely to simply prey upon the vulnerable. After all, have we not all heard of the banality of evil?

•Victimology Theory - on Lycos Retriever

As long as there is impunity and any motivation or incentive of any kind whatsoever to deviously take undue advantage by violating the rights of others, then a certain population percentage will deviously take undue advantage by violating the rights of others even routinely and consistently. Moreover, as proverbial birds of a feather indeed flocking together, drawn together in the eager exchange of malicious gossip by which to share and promote vulnerable targets of bullying, amoral sociopathic bullies network and collaborate in evil doing fairly readily. -Conspiracy indeed, but at the grass roots.

1 in 4 child bullies will grow to have a criminal record. Bullying and theft, violence and trickery of every kind, are only ancient and successful strategies in human society no less than in nature, especially toadying to the powerful while beating down and scapegoating the competition, the lowest common denominator appealed to by demagogues. Alas, there is no shortage of natural dedication and man-hours whole heartedly devoted to pettiness and sheer spite in this world. There is never a gap in volunteerism, so long it's for injustice and destruction.

Surely, if the Devil had to pay minimum wage, Hell would go bankrupt!

The rugged and transcendently self sufficient Ubermench remains a myth. In truth, the inferior tends to dominate the superior. Indeed, as the saying goes, no matter how bad you are, there will be someone who is worse simply because they think they are better.

The challenge in defense of personal individuality in life has always been not only to navigate another path as ever needed for whatever reason, but to establish social support and alternative supply chains, connections, alliance and defense. And it is the widespread failure to accomplish this, all things being equal let alone in the face of cliquish bullying, harassment and isolation, that perpetuates the crisis. Because, evidently, not everyone who ever feels alienated or finds themselves excluded, for whatever reason or under any circumstances, can rise all that well to such a challenge. Especially if one finds oneself actually hounded, one way or another.

Also, there may be any number of other separate problems and complications unaddressed to obstruct even whatever seems so practical and straightforward adaptation to others. Because life and people are like that. Indeed, any adaptation of an individual may seem, metaphorically speaking, like cutting the foot to fit the shoe, whereas, of course, it is the proverbial shoe that needs to fit for the comfort of the wearer.

What, then, is the alternative? Building cultures of respect, inclusive societies, on the basis of the highest principles and most functional empathy and attachment has never quite been accomplished.

And yet, so often, the approach to self help in social integration, even in the face of the most flagrant bullying, assumes that the key, so to speak, is already there to be found and turned. But, quite often, such helpful encouragement towards social adaptation fails for any number of reasons. And this suggests that such an approach might not be adequate in all cases, for any number of reasons, none the least being because there might not be any "key" lying around, as it where. Bullies do not need to be so reasonable, let alone kindly and accepting.

•  Dealing With Manipulative People - protractedly escalating ambient or stealth abuse

As Carl von Clausewitz warns us, "The aggressor is always peace-loving; he would prefer to [bully] unopposed."  They are the enemy, after all! And, as grand as it may be to befriend one's enemy, one's enemy will only be befriended should they choose to be. Enemies can only really become friends first establishing peace. In the meantime, the enemy is no friend, and it is grave folly to behave otherwise and to surrender all initiative. Indeed, Sun Tzu observes that if the enemy seeks peace or opens negotiations unexpectedly, they are actually scheming, and that apology and humility likely just a delaying ploy playing for time and respite to regroup. Moreover: "To fail to take the battle to the enemy when your back is to the wall is to perish."

“You can shoot the tiger, or stay out of his way, but you cannot pronounce him a vegetarian.”  —  Richard Mitchell

And so, the need for better strategy must be addressed. Including alternative supply chains, connections, alliance and mutual defense by which to intimidate bullies more reliably. Social Darwinism is unacceptable. But that's no excuse not to rise to the challenge thereof. Therefore, let us begin by confronting the Hobbesian ugly truth: 

The niches of all opportunistic bullies, predators and parasites tend to be stable and lie along their path of least resistance. Such niches are provided by opportunity, the prey or host or target of bullying, purposefully or by chance, locating anyone who is vulnerable. Moreover, threat and manipulation tend to eventually render one or another distraught and vulnerable target's responses even the more amenable to predation, exploitation and parasitism.

Bullies are domineering, vengeful, Sadistic, and solve whatever their problems by overt violence and intimidation or other more covert destructive tactics. Bullies achieve recognition and respect, of a fashion, even if actually disliked and resented, through aggression, and naturally proliferate where dominance is tolerated if not valued and power struggle is the accepted way of things.

It is all too often observed that the successful make the rules to their own advantage and to keep the rest of us playing their looser game as their pawns and fools. Where naked mayhem and brutality can no longer stand, not mere coercion alone, but deception and misleading manipulation of others broadly, has become central to the organization of modern society, not only in politics but also in the economic relationships served.

Bullying is often classified as either strategic, a coercive means towards any self serving benefit or goal put forth, or else otherwise driven or motivated by character, whether by initiative or in response to whatever situation, opportunity or conflict as may ever arise. The principle types of bullying are the violence and intimidation of Physical Bullies, most obviously, but also varying degrees of mimesis, while Verbal Bullies employ threats and abuse, the Relational Bully continually instigating to undermine and isolate the target of bullying socially, and no less deceptive or devious, the passive or covert aggressor, a coworker, collaborator or recruiter of any sort who sabotages, deceives or exploits the target of bullying by simple non cooperation, and Reactive Victims, ever manifesting the most blatant projection and constantly triggered by slights -real, exaggerated or entirely imagined. But, of course, rationalizations of grudge collecting are hardly uncommon in bullies unless, as often, they are just gloating Sadists outright, who tend to prefer scapegoating and victim blaming of whatever vulnerability of the target of bullying, singling out of the most trivial of difference and scapegoating rationalizations of invented threat to society and especially feminine "virtue" and other such typical taboo, also typical to the folly and sanctimonious abuse of power characteristic of the politician bully. Indeed, even while gaining impunity as bullies, mania and undue volatility even to the point of self-indulgence aside, or even simple over stress, as actual targets of deliberate bullying themselves, Reactive Victims may be resented the more for fighting back at all. Hence, fairness is not merely abrogated, but actually reversed!

Also see: The 4 most-common workplace bullies and bully bosses  

    •  Guide to bully types and tactics

    •  Are Bullies Sabotaging Your Ability to Compete?

                   Woody Allen said that “Eighty percent of success is showing up.” But not for targeted individuals of serial bullying and ostracism. It's worse than invisibility!

    •  WhistleBlowing  - the Psychodynamics of conflict
     When friendship is not good for your mental health

 Put the whistleblowers in charge!

Endless cat and mouse

All to often, without the overwhelming deterrence of adequate connections, support and alliances, the only and costly apparent last resort to effectively deter persistent bullies at all may be to unambiguously sink to their level and win or even to loose a fist fight, but doing enough damage in the process none the less to make the bullies think twice in future. That is to say, depending on the cowardice of the bullies, and unless the social environment has become unremittingly violent or otherwise dangerous beyond caring, in which case, even successful self defense earns little respite. And if not actually by hand to hand brawling then by whatever due process or legal recourse, if available. Or else by any decisive initiative, which is to say, any threat or obstruction to livelihood or other vital interaction, overt or covert. But not in case of any hesitation, delay, trepidation or compunction, on the part of the target of bullying.

And not if one can't get away with it. Not if the bullies are sneaky and actually hope to provoke whatever retaliation or angry reaction, in order to get the target of bullying into all the more trouble. Not while intelligence gathering against bullies is at all neglected and/or in any way hampered, and the only access to the bullies at all by the target of bullying is in any context of restraint of civility abused and manipulated by the bullies while actually only constraining without much protecting, the target of bullying. For, as Sun Tzu said: Know the enemy and know thyself.

And once a potential target of bullying exhibits social constraint or responsibility, never mind intimidation outright, the bully quickly realizes that, particularly in sheer bullying mimesis, he or she can safely maneuver the situation to the very brink of disgrace. The reticence of the target of bullying may arise from out of whatever reluctance, shock, paralysis, inability, situational deadlock, typical of "let's you be reasonable" headgames or conditioning, even authoritative deliberate remedial socialization and expectations, formal or informal. Counting upon the integrity of the victim's constraints to keep them both from tumbling over, the bully stands on the crumbling edges of socially acceptable behavior, agitating and pressing the target of bullying either to misstep and cross the line or else to effectively submit to ongoing and protractedly escalating of syndromes of shunning and mobbing, abuse and distress because the target of bullying will often be in jeopardy, one way or another, should they give way to being baited.

But, otherwise, submission only reinforces the behavior of an unpunished bully. The target of bullying exhibits an anxious vulnerability. The situation of mimesis is engineered wherein the target of bullying is set up as an easy target for later ongoing victimization and  scapegoating. The target of bullying suffers severe painful traumatic stress, fear and loss of control, that must eventually impair performance and achievement, a detriment and danger all to often underestimated in ongoing denial. Indeed, with the rise of youth violence, so too has the suicide rate increased.

Worse, any perceived failure of the target of bullying to stick up for themselves tends to make others highly uncomfortable, thus the target of bullying will not be well liked, exacerbating social isolation. And it will be often true, as is often said, that the one shunned, indeed, has an attitude problem or just whatever indistinct bad vibe. After all, who wouldn't? Because bullying and shunning rapidly bring on the onset of depression, to paranoia if not actual hypervigilance, bitterness, misanthropy and other such acute mental conditions of distress. Obviously, people tend to keep their distance from such a one for fear that what they have might be contagious (which, indeed, it more often is), or for the sheer repulsiveness of their company, or for the rational fear of being associated with them.

And, alternatively, the target of bullying will typically only be the more resented as a spoilsport for lashing back in their own defense.

If anything at all can be learned from observation, it is that whatever the price will be extracted for avoiding becoming such a wretch, it will most often be accepted.

Hence, the targets of bullying will be rejected not only by the bully but their peers as well, drastically limiting the pool of potential social or business contacts. In other words, the isolation and ostracism via covert relational hostility is already well under weigh. And without connection and amid the anonymity of the masses, dangerous bystander apathy is vastly exacerbated and assertive honesty so badly undermined by social loafing. After all, at any moment and under any circumstances, anyone may be pressed and cowed into hesitation and silence for fear that to speak up may reflect poorly, exercise futility, bring adverse consequences or even do harm.

Generally, social, residential, familial, scholastic, professional needs, prior investment or circumstances compel the target of bullying into dealing with the bully at all, one way or another. Otherwise, given any better free choice, the target of bullying might very well simply prefer to disengage and just put all unpleasantness out of mind. More over, world view, composure, presence of mind under fire, and social skill level and available resources might not provide the target of bullying viable alternatives beyond either submission or steady escalation of ongoing conflict on every level.

Bullying, like evil generally, is simple that way. And most advantageous to the evil doer. Hence, evil succeeds and propagates. Because collaboration among evil doers likewise comes naturally, along the path of least resistance, so long as evil people generally covet what they can get or keep from those whom they victimize but fear one another at all.

And that is why collaboration in bullying, among other evils, must be continually disrupted at every level of any open society or culture of respect. Clique Busters is conceived to attempt the ongoing disruption of bullying in ordinary day to day life, where the need has always been great and sorely neglected, and even to egg on the bullies to misstep, once and for all, and to reap the embarrassment that they have sown. Clique Busters pretty much follows the definition and characterization as laid out in the in the Bully/Victim Problems document, but goes beyond the prescribed solution, in seeking to institutionalize change societally, even if reform will not come from the top down as is often generally assumed.

Hence, Clique Busters proposes independent investigation, intervention, consciousness raising and even covert counter-conspiracy.

But any benevolence, by contrast with exploitation, quickly runs into Entropy. Benevolence of any kind expends personal resources (even just time and compassion) and stalls upon their depletion. And benevolence also depends upon the receptivity and cooperation of the intended beneficiary.

At worst, benevolence opens the benefactor's own vulnerability to predators and parasites. But even short thereof, the intended beneficiary may prove to one degree or another unresponsive for any number of reasons:

First of all, that the most needy and vulnerable are somehow so easy to find by exploitative bullies, but so hard to find and then to connect with for help, intervention or even sympathy. And that even then, benevolence may be in any degree misguided or inadequate, in any degree missing or falling short of the actual or self-perceived needs of the intended beneficiary. But also because the more that bullying threat and manipulation have rendered a vulnerable target's responses amenable to predation, exploitation and parasitism, the less amenable and competent their responses are to opportunity and help because ongoing threat and protractedly escalating of syndromes of shunning and mobbing and covert relational hostility, may tend to erode one's instincts and intuition. And, all to often, opportunity will be fleeting while tribulation will remain incessant.

Likewise, helping oneself to begin with, may often entail effort and discomfort, especially taxing to anyone already distraught from bullying/predation/ exploitation/ parasitism. And this may still apply no less even given however valuable the offer of whatever outside advice, assistance or resources.

Additionally, benevolence may easily face all manner of relentless direct third party sabotage, at little cost or risk to the saboteur, no matter whatever their vested interest or motivation in mimesis or just completely actingout  may be.

Not to mention, in the worst case, should the intended beneficiary turn out to be, in actuality, one sort of deceptively parasitic bully or another with whatever ulterior agenda or dysfunction. -Or indeed, even n the very worst malignant optimism of the abused, any sort of submissive Masochist, exactly the weakest link in the chain that all fear to close ranks with, always pulling their punches, supplying aid and comfort to their own enemies, actually seeking only validation of a yearning for the guidance and approval of their very tormentors, and not simply to be at long last well rid of the abusers and put an end to protractedly escalating of syndromes of shunning and mobbing, abuse. Of course, to further confuse matters, bullies, like rapists, often love to characterize targets of bullying as veritable Masochistic partners in courtship, no matter how unwelcome the bullies Sadism in actuality. And where others move tentatively for fear of whom to trust, and network with great difficulty, bullies flock together like birds of a feather, ever up to no good.

In summation, for optimal success, benevolence requires adequate resources, best receptivity, comprehension and adaptability to the needs of the beneficiary and capable amenable response on the part of the intended beneficiary. Predators will always find the vulnerable before potential friends, allies, do-gooders and protectors. There are several reasons:
Good and evil limit one another differently. Survival for all depends upon some upper limit upon evil. Within that envelope, every benevolence is often frustrated by intractable resistance. Do-gooders expend dwindling resources, whereas successful predators profit and proliferate. Good is fostered by reciprocity, often thwarted by defection (non reciprocation) networking difficulties and logistical obstacles often maliciously exacerbated, as well as day to day drains on personal and public resources and capital. Do-gooders network with difficulty, whereas the evil connects and cooperate readily and entrench themselves. And the vulnerable may be slow and inept to respond to help, whereas successful predators experience far less obstacles or scruples, and cooperate very smoothly, being well motivated by Sadism and personal gain.

For good to overcome evil, these ubiquitous gaps must be fit. Cost effective and sensible deterrence of evil at it's most petty must also be addressed, and not only the most drastic response as reserved against the most monstrous of deeds. Reciprocal networking must be improved and outreach to the vulnerable and abused must each be improved, routinely.

And all of that inevitably tends to become exceedingly daunting and complicated. All in all, it's easy to understand Nietzsche's dread of responsibility and Altruism. -Of getting dragged in and sucked down with the drowning more often than saving them successfully. And this may apply to whatever familial and other responsibilities, without assuming additional burdens of charity or civic mindedness. However, reciprocity, reciprocal benevolence, mutual support of one kind or another, may improve sustainability over one sided benevolence. But attempts to build reciprocity may only tend to be even more complicated and vulnerable. So much so, that one may even be better off to do good works without expectation and the vulnerability of over extending oneself.

Give and take relations and functional social networks providing any sense of security in life do exist, of course. But that does not mean that everyone finds them or gains access, easily or at all. And those who are so blessed may often either take it all far too much for granted or fear losing it too much to ever stick out their necks. And so, all the time, many good people are slipping through the cracks, in one sense or in one way or another.

And this brings us to the difficulty of connecting and organizing and, consequently, the hopes invested in the very prospect of future interaction on the frontiers of advanced automated Sociometry.

The Ugly Truth of standing alone

For an extreme and lethally violent example of how bullying stays prevalent, one need only consider how, as a matter of craven vested interest, opportunism, power and ambition, terrorists routinely murder not only the so called "moderates" within their own ranks and amide their affiliations, but also peaceful activists and protestors among their own constituents as "traitors" and sabotage perfectly competent peaceful demonstrations in order to turn them violent so that the terrorists can continue to hypocritically declare diplomacy a hopelessly lost cause leaving terror as last resort of the underdog!

All such tactics insure that destructive behavior gets more attention than constructive behavior, while victimized dissidents may despair of even being noticed to be helped. In the end, oppressive and hypocritical government officials often may far prefer to negotiate with criminal terrorists, the former demonized enemy magically turning statesmen and even nation builder, than to acknowledge, answer to and work with the struggling and oppressed or their Intellectuals.

And no one cares.

Indeed, every rabid running dog, every vicious foreign policy tool that ever seemingly bit the hand the feeds them, may eventually come round again in due course, and make themselves useful again, one way or another.

Cynical governments and political hacks by far prefer to embrace terrorists as statesmen and nation builders if it helps them to ignore and keep obscure legitimate peaceful pro-democratic activists and intellectuals who might actually improve conditions for the people. Bullies on the world stage may like to put on a great and deadly show of factional conflict, but it's all just a propaganda squeeze play, higher stakes mimesis, with protractedly escalating of syndromes of shunning and mobbing, ambient or stealth abuse. a cult con game to press the people into choosing up sides, however interchangeable, to make cannon fodder and exploit emotionally unbalanced suicidal would be martyrs.

Indeed, Che Guevara well understood the symbiosis behind oppositional violence, openly declaring in his writings that the whole point of appalling acts of terrorism is, by that very threat and alarm, to enable the Fascists ever waiting in the wings to drive the government into heavy handedness, so as, in turn, and as the intended and desired end result, to radicalize the populace to be recruited into the Revolution. And, indeed, conversely, even fairly recent history teaches us that if terrorists do not exist, government conspirators will incubate them. Terrorism, then, may even be regarded as nothing more that a sort of violent sham opposition.

Moreover, by contrast, the truly progressive are conveniently easy to ignore in all the confusion. Once again, nice guys finish last!

Indeed, in many a context constructive behavior is often sabotaged and undermined, one way or another. Anti-competitive bullying is an unfair competitive advantage robbing the world of better alternatives.

Certainly bullies in the workplace, for a more common place and somewhat less lethal example, help to suppress superior innovation. Indeed, a common form of passive/aggressive covert/hostile bullying in the workplace or whatever context of collaborative effort, is simply stonewalling urgent memos, regardless of the cost or damage to the bottom line or whatever other motivated goals ever put forth in common. The classic toxic manager is well known for sabotaging the contribution of coworker targets of bullying and then to belittle their efforts. And even in grade school abusiveness is better rewarded with attention than any constructive accomplishment let alone the effort in the attempt or groundwork in the mean time.

"Writing comes more easily if you have something to say." to quote Sholem Asch. And while this may come as a good warning against triviality, it also happens that one can be stymied in addressing very important problems. And in such case, one must hope that one will be afforded at least the luxury of admitting it. Because that, at least, gives the writer something to say.

One just such daunting problem is that of bullying.

To address grievances including bullying there is the administration at school and internal procedure and policy in the work place, plus Labor Union grievance process, all often more a part of the problem and a grinding ordeal besides, further breaking down the target of bullying and protractedly escalating of syndromes of shunning and mobbing, abuse, than any redress, only postponing and even subverting the final uncertain and costly ordeal of legal recourse. But the standard crocodile tears, facile helpless heartless "Arafat speak" and official victim blaming of scapegoats are all well documented at so many other anti-bullying websites, studies and literature. Suffice to add that attrition and manipulation into unilateral Soft Bargaining is known in Transactional Analysis as the "let's you be reasonable" Ulterior Transaction or headgame.

And aside from societally provided means of redress, there are only whatever personal resources and contacts of the individual, adequate to help intimidate bullies from targeting them. Or else not! After all, bullies tend to prey upon the more vulnerable and isolated. Indeed, the aim of exclusion by covert relational hostility is to sabotage the all important social connectivity of the target. In short, the reason that there cannot be a better resource guide for the bullied, against harassment and social isolation, is that there are more often than not, no resources to speak of!

That is why it is always far easier seeking to reach out and educate concerned pedagogues and officials who have any the wherewithal to fight such injustice as it arises and motivation to help bully-proof the institutions in which they work, than to advise the actual hapless targets of bullying.

For example, there is the Playground Pass System.

More over, bullying in society at large, rather than just in such institutions of school and employment, is the most under addressed, except for the special case of the persecution of minorities. Although, at least the plight of those hounded, harassed and intimidated by a hostile threatening or even possibly violent neighbor, and even finally being forced to sell and move house, is finally beginning to come to light. And none too soon. Electronic harassment currently seems no more than a conspiratorial paranoid urban myth. But, mark my words, it's only a matter of time before a particularly vicious neighbor bully resorts to belligerent ultrasound technology quite easily assembled entirely off the shelf from Radio Shack.

In society, institutions are established to deal with various social problems. Institutions that adapt and evolve. Clique Busters, as proposed, is conceived as a different kind of institution, a counter-conspiracy rather than just an interest group or adjunct to authority.

The reasons for this are two fold:
First of all, because when it comes to bullying, the pertinent authorities are so often a major part of the problem in such formal context as school or employment, let alone world affairs. Or else, because there is often no particular authority to turn to in many informal social contexts when bullying arises. And so, if civility is absent, what then?

The perils of individuality

“Let us face ourselves bravely as we are. For only a philosophy that recognizes reality can lead us into true happiness, and only that kind of philosophy is sound and healthy.” 
—  Lin Yutang

After all, at any moment and under any circumstances, anyone may be pressed and cowed into hesitation and silence for fear that to speak up may reflect poorly, exercise futility, bring adverse consequences or even do harm. Aside from the ubiquitous problems of social loafing, bystander apathy, Anti-Critical Bias, cowardice lacking assertive honesty, function in the social network is simply inadequate to the needs of many people even in the lulls much less in their times of tribulation and struggle or the aftermath, and tends to be unresponsive simply from sheer inefficiency. The more so after social connectivity is damaged and subverted by covert relational hostility. As long as opportunity is tenuous to begin with, bullies can render the difficult impossible. More over, it becomes clear that first socially isolating the target makes it far easier to lie convincingly, thus drastically increasing vulnerability to criminal exploitation, particularly fraud as well as violence and extortion.

Indeed, by contrast, the most destructive people, of course, often seem to be so very well connected, all the time! Whether they are mean spirited socially prominent student cliques, spousal abusers, petty thugs, crooked cops or corporate lobbyists and public officials.

Often, the targets of bullying are simply admonished to toughen up! Of course, that only means adaptation, one way or another, to the status quo. Rather, what is needed is to play hard ball and achieve real progress. To force the bullies to be tougher on themselves, and the less self indulgent with their hostile impulses and self serving abuse.

I respectfully submit that, victim blaming and scapegoating aside, good people often do very much need to take responsibility for our failure to seek some way to find and implement an adequate societal mode of connectivity, with it's own memetic propagation and it's own defenses, so as to become effective and competitive with the ancient and obscene advantages of dominance and predation. Because as things stand the current situation leaves all such advanced acquired traits as the enlightened and progressive so cherish, at a significant short term social Evolutionary disadvantage. And this is detrimental to all rational Humanist democratic social progress.

And so, the apologists for the bullies may even be correct in their excuses that it is the responsibility of the oppressed, exploited and forgotten to adapt. The question is whether those very traits which that we value can be adaptive to the threat they so often confront, rather than only a handicap of dissidence and principle that the cowardly intolerant conformists simply advocate be sacrificed for the sake of fitting in with status quo so that bullies, enablers and submissive victims can all effectively be recruited continually, there by.  

In other words, we want to be free, individual and good, but at all autonomous, without being helpless and vulnerable and of no use to ourselves or anyone else. In short, to bring under control the sacrifice of being true to oneself. To establish a more secure position. 

One aspect of predation, exploitation, dominance and bullying, is that they are proactive, responsive and benefit from connectivity and collusion. And that they subsume the society which they infest and propagate while marginalizing the competing opposition. 

Not only do predation and dominance propagate among the predators and oppressors, but oppression also propagates among the oppressed. 

Turning the tables?

Indeed, much as not only predation and dominance propagate among the predators and oppressors, with oppression also propagating among the oppressed, likewise democracy, reason and tolerance must also propagate. Nothing can be taken for granted and fair play must be zealously enforced by moral suasion at all times. Alas, all too often, such will be an uphill struggle. Whatever can improve transmission of democracy, reason and tolerance would be as proactive, responsive, cooperative and enhance connectivity in some coherent manner, much as are predation, exploitation, dominance and bullying themselves, but without predation, exploitation, dominance and bullying, because, of course, that would be entirely purpose defeating. 

Nevertheless, this hypothetical Memplex must be equipped with it's own defense, not only in the individual mind, but also within societal interaction. And so, it must also help to marginalize predation, exploitation, dominance and bullying, selectively non destructively enough not become or conform to the very predation, exploitation, dominance and bullying it seeks to oppose. 

And this protective propensity in functional society has a name. It is called, civility. And civility is very nice when one can find it! Far to rarely, alas. 

Nietzsche tended to view Altruism, morality, sympathy and responsibility, as an albatross, holding back the individual from self realization of freedom and autonomy. And there is no denying the personal sacrifice inherent in living by any moral principles at all. But it is through the workings of democratic values in society that moral constraint and compassion may actually aid and abet self realization. The only question is as to the feasibility of such a thing and the opportunity to overthrow the Post Modern Cynicism which Nietzsche foresaw and where in 'justice' signifies no more than the self serving interest of the stronger, exactly as the Sophist Thrasymachus asserts to Socrates in Plato's Dialogues. 

Crypto-Totalitarianism and the crippling obsession with socialization

Indeed, to this day, victim blaming often seizes upon the old pretext that the targets of bullying are socially inept and deficient. Indeed, let us no longer deny the truth of the bullies' superior social skills. For by definition, who can deny the abilities of an enduring predator or parasite? Indeed, the stereotypical oafish lone physical bully is the exception.

By all means then, let us address the acquisition and improvement of social skills. Indeed, the abused frequently learn from their abusers, even to become abusers themselves, so, again, there's no use denying it. Or else, the abused, miserable, only learn helplessness and to keep their place. Or others become people pleasers and social climbers and to better fit in, or simply learn to conform and escape notice. But by no means is sheer heteronomy exhaustive. For others even do learn how to stand up for themselves and ever fight back. As if that where always easy or cut and dry! Or always enough.

Some, most fortunately of all, learn to network, socially, in order to gain crucial connections, alliances, even friendship that they may reciprocally rely upon for safety. Undeniably, such do acquire and master adequately proficient social skills. But alas, not all of us, and under any different circumstances and situations, for any number of reasons, rise to these daunting challenges. And that is how the target of bullying will be different in their traits, and also vulnerable to harassment and to ubiquitous intolerable conniving active sabotage which is called Relational Bullying, isolation, ostracism, protractedly escalating of syndromes of shunning and mobbing, ambient or stealth abuse.

And so, the victim blaming seizing upon the old pretext that the targets of bullying are socially inept and deficient, is not entirely or literally untrue, just amoral and lacking in decent values. Instead, the hypocrisy, the unstated values assumed are the dire obligation of every individual to enthusiastically validate and uphold status quo uncritically, hence the malignant heteronomy to conformist pressures to adapt, impunity, veritable vigilante socialization to crush all misfits and dissidents and render the masses attachment disordered but socially skilled, sacrificing deeper and genuine robust and healthy autonomous social development essential to freedom in favor of conformist and heteronymous socialization, in an ongoing program inculcated via our Inductivism of what passes for education, in which bullies and thugs then actually lead the way as pillars of a criminal community standing in for the open Totalitarianism that would never be tolerated anymore.

Barriers to adequate social survival skills and strategies are varied, may indeed include all manner of personal troubles, foibles, character flaws and failings, but no less often circumstantial or situational problems of practical insurmountably, also profound dramatic conflict with real values. Hence the frequent sheer and tragic irrelevancy of pressures to adapt, impunity, veritable vigilante socialization prevalent and so unjustly legitimized by victim blaming against the targets of bullying, with the effect of better recruitment in the preservation of status quo by the eager and ubiquitous Fifth Columns of the Reactionaries even within ostensibly or nominally open and democratic society, wherein more straightforward and pervasive blatantly dictatorial brutality will be unacceptable but tactics of, for all intents and purposes, injurious participatory mass brainwash are normal, even banal.

And so, if however prevailing social expectations are rejected as inadequate and illegitimate, oppressive, unjust, what options then remain? The answer is, change, even revolution. And so, unless one is entirely satisfied with the petty pace of progress, then the questions remain, what can be done to help, and yes, what can be done differently and better for and, yes, by the targets of bullying?

No, indeed, the pursuit of happiness need never be construed as any guarantee of success nor any right nor effete entitlement thereto. Yet remain open any range of questions of responsibility and the limitations thereof. Because, supposing, as some hold true, that we are each and all entirely responsible for everything in our lives that happens to us, then we are also obligated to consider any measures of possible effective response. Or else, if we are not responsible for every our own fortune or misfortune, then why ought we simply to bear the latter stoically?

Otherwise, any positive right, such as the right to walk out at night in safety, remains entirely corollary to a clear negative right, such as the right not to get mugged. Likewise, even the broadest pursuit of happiness will be contingent upon the maintenance of the proverbial level playing field, in specific, protection from the self serving unfair advantage of physical and protractedly escalating of syndromes of shunning and mobbing, emotional abuse or the social injury of malicious disenfranchisement. Hence, when all else clearly, chronically and systemically fails, the audacious, unapologetic and ongoing primary aim of Clique Busters must be to defuse, undermine and disrupt bullying of any kind, even covertly and by the non violence of moral suasion coupled with low guile. Clique Busters is a somewhat Machiavellian Realistic conspiracy proposal for active outreach towards the covert engineering of Civility by Guerrilla Transactional Analysis re-scripting bullying mimesis. 

Finding social context 

The integrity of independence comes at great sacrifice for the sake for anti-bullying initiatives as much as for any other kind of undertaking. By contrast, more profitable or Public Relations anti-bullying initiatives seek to work within the system and to cooperate with whatever authorities, such as employers or school administrators, either to be more respectable, or just to find a billable patron.

But the more serious anti-bullying initiatives also strive to remedy the ways in which the authorities can be a part of the problem. Indeed, the authorities may even be the worst of the bullies! Or, there are less formal social contexts with less clear authority or accountability. In that case, there may be no recourse except for targets of bullying everywhere to band together. And as to response, both awareness campaigns and even covert action may be indicated. Such will be the role of Clique Busters as a most militant last line of defense against bullying.

Clique Busters is nothing other than how decent individuals in a truly civil society would respond to bullying. 

To befriend the targets of harassment who need allies and also the targets of Relational Bullies who are being isolated, to organize response and openly scold, mock, heckle, thwart, kill-joy, and frustrate the bullies responsible and/or to covertly misdirect the bullies, and talk about what is going and what can and should be done about it with others at large to raise outrage.

At any moment and under any circumstances, anyone may be pressed and cowed into hesitation and silence for fear that to speak up may reflect poorly, exercise futility, bring adverse consequences or even do harm. But the spell of social loafing and bystander apathy can actually be broken by the example and assertive honesty of even a single Good Samaritan, subverting the depraved mimesis of the bullies, and no less dramatically. -Which is actually important so that intervention is not simply by resented, in their dispirited amoral idle boredom, by the bystander audience as anticlimactic spoilsport and killjoy, but instead actually received and appreciated as a stirring appeal to participation in the uplifting renewal of civility reaffirmed.

Also to communicate, strategize and prepare to foil bullies, whenever malicious gossip reveals behind itself, mean spirited conspiracy.

Indeed, because the forces of good are so thinly spread, the Clique Busters must actually go out looking for the opportunity, no less than do the bullies themselves. Clique Busters will be proactive, answering calls for help, and even reaching out to those in need unasked.

And such intervention constitutes vigilantism only as do all random or not so random acts of kindness. -Vigilantism merely in mimesis.

The low guile of Clique Busters, intelligence gathering, clique infiltration, and generally out foxing bullies, is necessary for taking the initiative back from the bullies, and turning their strengths to weaknesses. Both so crucial to victory, as Sun Tzu emphasizes. Just as bullies target their victims, the Clique Busters must defend known targets of bullying and  scapegoats, and resist known bullies.

Another priority of Clique Busters, as with every good idea, must be to preserve the integrity of Clique Busters itself. Clique Busters is empowerment, but power must not be allowed to corrupt. Especially should the sort of bullies who pretend benevolence and even believe it themselves are ever attracted to join the Clique Busters! Therefore part of the mandate of Clique Busters must be the creation of protocols for maintenance of bully and bulling resistant social psychological health internal to Clique Busters, and adequate membership screening.

Possible options include sustaining Clique Busters as a Transactional Analysis social environment internally, and on the horizon the hopes of future interaction on the frontiers of advanced automated Sociometry.

In an untrustworthy society, everyone must tow the line in order to make connections and gain defensive allies in order to inspire fear in potential enemies. No one wants to be isolated and singled out. But genuine freedom of association requires that no one needs to be liked by everyone or feared by anyone. In the words of Adlai Ewing Stevenson: “A free society is one where it is safe to be unpopular.” Civility must be extend to all. Alas, this is all to rare. 

The Youth Culture Awareness Main Page cites School Bully Report 4/00 : 

A recent report issued by Duke University psychologists revealed that bullies are among the most popular boys in school from the fourth through sixth grade. The researchers surveyed teachers and male students in 59 classrooms from rural, suburban and inner-city schools in Chicago and North Carolina..  They explored the effect of bullying of classmates, which is often undetected or unpunished by school staff, on victims and innocent bystanders.  Duke University psychologist Philip Rodkin, lead author of the study that was published in the January issue of Developmental Psychology and other psychologists worry that popular bullies may be less likely to change their behavior than unpopular bullies because it works so well for them.  "These boys may internalize the idea that aggression, popularity and control naturally go together, and they may not hesitate to use physical aggression as a social strategy because it has always worked," Rodkin said. "But there will come a point in these boys' lives when this turns from an adaptive and fun to a lonely and potentially dangerous characteristic."  Parents may also unwittingly contribute to the problem by accepting or even encouraging aggressive behavior as long as their children are popular, Fisher said. 

    • Developmental Victimology

But, clearly, the break down of the adaptation Rodkin is counting upon does not always so reliably come to pass. Because the time tested tactics and patterns of the serial bully remain viable, unchecked and even highly successful in all manner of adult social context, none the least of which are the work place and even, most alarmingly, world affairs. 

Schoolyard bullies, after all, face a far greater statistical probability of growing up to become common criminals. Unless, of course, they are slick enough for Politics.

"Explain cliques and their mean maneuvers to your child as in terms of power and control, not friendship." Yes, indeed, and, or else, children, do explain it to your obtuse parents! "It is amazing just how diabolical these clique divas can be." Girls use a different kind of weapon: Parenting solutions for girlish covert relational hostility. 

    

    •Girl Talk: Why Do Girls Slut Shame Each Other? Answer: fear of competition

    •voices From The Hellmouth from the Geek-Profiling dept.  

    •More from the Hellmouth: Kids tell about rage.

    •hellmouth.org

   Screams from Society "The Student As Nigger" The Columbine Massacre  Geeks R Us

The Case Against Schools Alienation In The Life Of Students WHY NERDS ARE UNPOPULAR

 Psychological warfare and covert relational hostility via organized orchestrated harassment

Any need whatsoever of maintaining at all plausible appearances and rationalizations will tend to rule out the more overt mimesis of bullying in favor of whatever ambient or stealth abuse secretly or at least deniably. All mature and functional attachments of social relationship under autonomy are ethical, being predicated upon trust and fulfillment of such expectations, lack or abrogation whereof creating distance, even loathing and avoidance, or else ambivalence, mistrust and dysfunction, indeed if not amoral sociopathy outright, then the shattered confidence and compensations thereto of heteronomy. Weak attachment makes for weak conscience. Thus heteronymous covert relational hostility working to to undermine those attachments in society, thereby conspire with impunity by means of social exclusion, shunning and mobbing, to harm and endanger the target of exactly such serial bullying. Often protected by abuse of power curried well in advance and usually also coordinated together with a wider disinformation campaign of damaging malicious gossip, an organized campaign of harassment is organized by cliques of amoral sociopathic serial bullies, and deviously orchestrated against the target of bullying. Individual harassment episodes involving a handful of participants are carefully planned and arranged for the isolated and bewildered target of bullying to experience in a social environment thereby turned palpably hostile and frightening. Ambiguous remarks overheard and trivial momentary acts of petty hostility seem not only deniable, but easy even for the target to overlook, except for the defamation and ostracism so menacingly foreshadowed.

For whenever possible, and in whatever social context, cliques of bullies will consistently strive to pressure and estrange all others from the target of bullying. Not only are current friends and acquaintances pressured, but all potential new connections are obstructed or misdirected under any pretexts or by whatever defamation, disruptive dirty tricks of covert relational hostility, intimidation and intrigues of abuse of power.

Delusions of reference or just hyper vigilant sensitization can make even random proximate events seem to be directly related to the perceiver, as for example it may seem as if people are talking about you specifically, let alone anything so dramatic, fancifully surreal as special personal messages communicated to you personally, through the TV, radio, or other media. Over compensation may take the form of sweet reason, self doubt, denial and dismissal as disturbing misperception and strange coincidence that which later turns out otherwise, when the proverbial second shoe metaphorically drops. The real question may be: Are you paranoid enough?

Gas lighting is typically employed in order to menace, condition and sensitize the target of bullying to certain cues that can be more readily employed to elicit stressful and maddening hyper vigilance in the hapless target of bullying, to make them seem all the more haunted and  undesirable, even in moments or upon occasions when in actuality only a small number of the bullies or unwitting proxies and utter tools are at all available within the harassment perimeter of the target of bullying for the ambient or stealth abuse that is organized gang stalking, and therefore there is no way for the target thereof to know how deeply community based or not.

•  Inductivism and the bumbling secret police

•  organized gang stalking: "bullying on steroids"

•  Devious clique diva bully types use a different kind of mean maneuvers:

       Parenting solutions for girlish covert relational hostility.

•  Are You Crazy, or Are You Being Gang Stalked?  

A conspiracy theory is any explanation of any particular outcome or circumstances as resultant from some or other concealed and clandestine plot by a secret group or alliance rather than any individual or isolated event despite all transpired superficial appearances. Indeed people in power have been all too frequently been discovered to do evil out from the public view. But the term: conspiracy theory designates a paranoid world view endeavoring to explain the bulk of known history and current events by a narrative of the unknown and unlikely, of vast secret pervasive shadowy conspiracy behind the scenes. Crank conspiracy theorists are often first degree pipedreaming do-nothings and a force for inaction at best, angrily dismissing the importance of all other problems except for those that they link to whatever mythical pervasive conspiracy, demonizing all rational skepticism and adamantly rejecting any action  agenda beyond lambasting unbelievers and preaching to the choir. Or else at worst, crackpot paranoid conspiracy theorists are dangerous hate criminals and propagandists. For the histories of persecution and conspiracism are inextricable.

But precisely what do we even really mean by the term: conspiracy theory? And as an article of Critical Preference, how exactly are crackpot conspiracy theories so bereft of all credibility?

The Epistemological and Methodological question is of the demarcation of extraordinary claims demanding progressively stronger and more extraordinary scientific and journalistic evidentiary support, let alone hypotheses that are outright untestable, unfalsifiable in very principle.

When indeed, if three felons cooperate in robbing a gas station, don't we assume that they planned it together, in other words: that they conspired? Or must we suppose that they all converged simultaneously, masked and guns in hand, by sheer coincidence, and only then spontaneously decided that they might as well collaborate? Of course not. Indeed, by contrast with all such common sense of the common place, an important feature of crank conspiracy theory proper, remains any far greater nigh religious leap of faith in explanation of the known in terms of the unknown or at least more uncommon or ever grander and more unlikely. Crackpot paranoid conspiracy theories strain credibility and credulity in their tendencies to posit impractically pervasive and deep secrecy together with consummate competence in the exercise of power, seizing the reigns of destiny from deep within the shadows behind the backdrop whereupon the spectacle of our empty lives is staged for us. 

Whereas in truth, the actual corruption of tacit conspiracy so powerfully motivated by vested interest which is so difficult to curtail, ultimately only follows the path of least resistance. It is said that two can keep a secret if one of them is dead. So, how many are supposed to be involved in vast secret pervasive conspiracies? When has the government ever really been slick enough to orchestrate much of anything very well? And what need of such convoluted secrecy, when, brazen and unaccountable, with complete impunity, the powerful and privileged are always peeing on our collective leg and telling us it's raining?

Although, sometimes it is the dilettante bored and powerful themselves who dabble in playing out crackpot conspiracy theory fantasy, indeed, as with the notorious Skull and Bones Society, gaudy privileged frat boy rituals of exclusivity and conspiracy may even serve only to glamorize precisely such tawdry reality of the interchangeably spineless and effete, behind a far more cool and thrillingly naughty and arcane fantasy. But surely, if such as the Skull and Bones Society never existed, nothing would really be any different. For that matter, if the notoriously elite and secretive Bilderberg conference where canceled one year, humdrum business as usual would simply continue via email. Competent management at all sustains our world. Real leadership is even more scarce.

By the same token, exploitation and abuse as an open secret in any given culture, is another matter entirely than outlandish conspiracy theory. Examples include discrimination which may indeed manifest as bullying targeted against some class of individuals, organized crime and, yes: defamation and bullying also including along with covert relational hostility, isolation, ostracism, protractedly escalating of syndromes of shunning and mobbing, ambient or stealth abuse, such measures of harassment typical of vigilantism as organized gang stalking among modes of bullying, actually not all that complicated. For that matter, vigilantism itself is little secret either any more than, smug and disingenuous denials aside, bullying most generally. -All most unlike the explanatorily inelegant and inevident mythic tendrils of deep Byzantine conspiracies, nigh unmanageable and quite unnecessary for the powerful and brazen. Purportedly omnipresent and omniscient electronic surveillance is scarcely necessary for mounting hyper vigilant sensitization to even the most petty psychological warfare in its mysterious intermittence, simply to feel that way.
 
Although, of course, governmental and corporate powers and even intelligence agencies have certainly been known to involve themselves in the instigation and even orchestrating of all manner of harassment and far worse, against whistleblowers and dissidents among others. Indeed,  Such orchestrated harassment as community based organized gang stalking, has a long history as a tool of political oppression whenever society swings towards Totalitarianism. The cult harassment and fair game tactics most notorious of The Church of Scientology also near mention. And But would any such harassment and defamation tactics be so damn easy and convenient in application criminal and sociopolitical oppression, if bullying weren't so rampantly out of control in veritably every sphere of life to begin with? Perhaps for a safer and saner world, autonomy and civility must begin closer to home. Perhaps the first evil powers that must be routed out, are merely the most insignificant petty abusers of power conferring impunity upon bullying. When we no longer so heteronymously tolerate their ilk, then perhaps we might also then break the habit of enduring any greater and deadlier tyranny and folly of public life, commerce and even of the criminal underworld as well.

Exploitative emotional abuse is often observed and understood in the context of interpersonal relationships and life within society. But under whatever pretext, the criminally malignant and predatory manipulation and coercion that is bullying, thrusts exploitative emotional abuse upon others against their will entirely, even outside any bounds of ongoing relationship. Bullying is Sadistic enmity and intrinsically rapine, whether by over violence or by whatever various other means and tactics of sly intrusion, an entirely unwanted involuntary relationship on the part of the target of bullying and destructive thereto. Although, exploitative abusive relationships and social orders are also typically part of the whole picture. Bullying sends the message to accommodate abuse and exploitation, or else come under bullying attack completely.

Bullying Online and Offline 

I myself have found flamers and character assassins Online as Offline so irksome, tiresome and repetitive that, in order to save time I have finally simply compiled a stock answers to their distortions and accusations, into The Completely Inane and tiresome Ad Hominem FAQ for FoolQuest.com 

But I am not the only one who can attest the matter is frequently far more serious and dangerous than that.

The formerly distant and impersonal Internet may be encroaching and closing in, faster than we think. "Perpetrators of social ills like bullying or stalking tend to use whatever media are available." Now, even text messaging on mobile phones. And here is a  parody (I hope!) warning of the abuse of Online resources in the perpetuation of sinister cause.

After all, there are already thriving communities of spite, not just cutting edge Web-tech in the dark service of ubiquitous Neo Nazis and various and sundry other legions of angry kooks, but forums of revenge, cyber-vandalism and, of course, flaming.

Already for decades now on the Internet, flamers, short for for flaming assholes, have engaged in flaming, which is short for enflaming others with rage, that may consist of harassment, baiting, cyberstalking, disruption of forums, character defamation, malicious evil gossip, cyber-libel, slander against reputation, covert relational hostility, like manipulative strangers with candy, the trollish exploitation of confidence, harassment and sheer ventilation of Sadism, internationally ubiquitous or closer to home. But take the survey.

Prevailing guidelines for flaming, such as they are, scarcely constitute any embodiment of Critical Thinking, as flaming seeks to obstruct and subvert rational discourse of any kind. The mentality of flaming is iniquitous, in that being anti-critical, flaming does not seek to state, define or redress grievance or injustice reasonably or even press cogent criticism. Rather, the stated methodology of flamers is the highly subjective and flexible identification of unworthy classes of individuals, inferior beings, intrinsically deserving of abuse and provocation.

Or the evaluation of the quality and worth of expression of others according to the flamer's highly subjective and self-indulgent criteria, in order to rationalize lashing out at will, according to the morally bankrupt historically Fascist ideology of true honesty achieved only by the abandonment of all Civility and decency. But, far from unflinching honesty, flaming is predicated upon aggravation via unrelenting topic irrelevancy, the determined intent of drowning out signal with noise making heat without light and tends to be rationalized by victim blaming, scapegoating and defamation, one way or another. To deny injustice and gloat about it, all in the same breath. Flaming, in short, is the Online application of standard historically Nazi anarchic diversionary tactics, Sadistic persecution and self serving rationalizations thereof. 

But flamers can be of any particular political alignment or none at all. Indeed, the logic of flamers, such as it is, may begin from their pointless taunting of such tempting targets as obnoxious flaming Neo Nazis, repressive religious Fundamentalists, charlatans, hustlers and USENET kooks. But then the field rapidly expands to become all encompassing so as to make anyone at all, fair game for flaming, at least in the twisted thinking of the flamers. Only so long as they can get away with it. 

All of this is consistent with Anton Levay's fashionably depraved assertions of vengeance as any sort of a moral compass, that are actually immoral deception, having nothing to do with any simply amoral individual liberation and, indeed, can be nothing but a license to actout, omitting as they do any value of justice or proportion whatsoever. For all such is but the ongoing distortion of Nietzsche that began, historically, with his exploitative Nazi sister! Remember, Nietzsche, after all, despised Altruism and Persecution, equally, as Ecclesiastical vanity, Zen futile worldly attachment, snares and threats to autonomy. But the post-Nazi likes of Anton Levay, not only flamers, specifically, but bullies in general, often actually advance Sadomasochism as self realization, or at least on par with any other Hedonism. 

After all, any success in manipulation of the target of flaming, any response at all, for whatever reason, indeed anything short of somehow or other successfully barring or driving the target of abuse away or driving them into silence one way or another, is considered by flamers to embody consent on the part of their target to further abuse, according to Anton LaVey's puerile and facile Satanist Sophistry and Apologetics for Sadomasochism that bald facedly equates predation and baiting with courtship between informed and desiring individuals.

And by similar repulsive logic, often targets of bullying conditioned into passive resignation by the school authorities are then considered better adjusted, because, otherwise, if they still react, then they are thought to be bringing it upon themselves. But, of course, by contrast with any physical intimidation or attack etc. in Real Life Offline, flamers are quick to point out that Online with flaming, far less is at stake. However, this may be deceptive, as flaming may serve to brand the target for disruptive Relational Bullying, defamation, ostracism and further incitement to and co-validation of all manner of harassment and abuse, Online or Offline. 

Nevertheless, no different than bullies in general, there remains the one thing alone that still stops flamers dead in their tracks. And that is Civility, manifest as the moral indignation and disapproval of bystanders (instead of the all to common apathy) against the sheer ugly discourtesy, as bad form and uncool. Or the disapproval may also be effective coming from an authority figure such as a forum Moderator. Indeed, Even though, at any moment and under any circumstances, anyone may be pressed and cowed into hesitation and silence for fear that to speak up may reflect poorly, exercise futility, bring adverse consequences or even do harm, the spell of bystander apathy and social loafing can be broken by the example and assertive honesty of even a single Good Samaritan. But, otherwise, cowardice and apathy of the public or effective secrecy that conceals abuse or, indeed, anything at all less than staunch Civility at all, comes to the flamers, as to any other cliques of bullies, as tacit approval from society, thus enablement and impunity for abusers. Because, being devoid of actual conscience, heteronymous amoral sociopaths actually tend to be all the more mortified by miss stepping into simple faux pas. That is their weakness. 

And all that is really needed for the introduction Civility into a culture, is a few plants in the crowd. A way of teaching in the field by demonstration. In turn leading to consensus building for moral suasion. The Clique Busters concept, Online or Offline, is about the covert engineering and orchestration of Civility and even the exposure of bullies and their cliques with intervention and counterpropaganda. 

Is clandestine or covert action even however non violent, ever justifiable? 

Yes, as an adjunct to more open Activism, sometimes when the problem is so bad that lives are destroyed and the victimized left traumatized. Especially when the authorities, or lack (or selective responsiveness) thereof, are part of the problem, then these are by definition conditions of at least relative oppression where an autonomous resistance, underground if need be, may be indicated. Not to rule out officially endorsed Clique Busters, should such opportunity arise. Labor and student organizations may also serve as Strategic Partners or patrons. 

Bullying can be subverted in order to backfire on bullies, to expose and humiliate sneaky bullies while protecting and garnering support for the intended targets of bullying, the very opposite of isolating their targets as typically intended by malevolent bullies.

Clique Busters, should also cultivate legitimacy as a public advocacy or watchdog, wielding intimidating moral suasion, not unlike the Humane Society or the Better Business Bureau. 

The Clique Busters may respond to requests for help, or even intervene autonomously. In a closed social context, such as a work place or school, recruitment must be internal. But Clique Busters insertion teams will be able to spring into action in any open social context. And there are many places where security is low, where infiltration may even be possible, at least long enough to network local recruitment.

But, indeed, outside outreach and intervention can be a thorny feasibility challenge depends the particulars and will doubtless vary very much with the particulars of the situation and environs and it's isolation from, or connection to, the rest of the world.

Are outsiders physically barred access? Otherwise, what will it take to just drop by and but in, let alone get away with it? What about cover stories and even simple disguises if need be? These are among the question that must arise for intervention. 

Perhaps at least co-workers/colleagues/fellow students/what-have-you and even important customers and stockholders or whatever, whomever, as applicable, can at least be canvassed for sympathetic support outside, say, on the lunch break, by an Ad Hoc outside advocacy and intervention team, to draw support away from the bullies and instead raise awareness and support for the target of bullying and even begin building a stronger legal case than an isolated and harried target of bullying is likely to muster all on their own.

Befriending targets of bullying:

Social "Proof" (corroboration) and Code Pink tactics countering dangerous bystander apathy

The trust of the target of bullying must be well and fully earned by unconditional opposition to bullying, before any even however most minimal added restraint or cooperation be requested from the target of bullying, and even then, most humbly and apologetically, under the circumstances of bullying which, after all, ought make responsible authorities blush. -and in so blushing, so to speak, and as publicly as possible, thereby already engender public disgrace for the bullies.

In the movie 'Ladyhawke', the curse will only be lifted when that jilted and jealous malignant cockblocker the Bishop of Aquila is thwarted and crushed by the very sight of the harried outlaw fugitive Etienne and his beloved Isabeau finally reunited with the help of their friend, the initially somewhat mousy but redoubtable Philippe. This is metaphor signifying how covert relational hostility and social exclusion effectively manufacture social "proof" in support of the target's luzer status of undesirability, and serving also as an effective obstacle the best Transactional Antithesis, being any social "proof" to the contrary, that can still nevertheless be attained in rising resistance to oppressive coercion and manipulation.

Indeed, meekly and most publicly apologizing in wretched mortification for flagrant bullies may even be far more devastating thereto even than actually scolding the bullies however scathingly, soundly and publically, certainly instead of actually accommodation or victim blaming. And as a matter of optimal casting for maximal devastation and humiliation of bullies and their vicious cliques, the apologetic spokespersons might be any sort of authority figures and minor celebrities, figures of pathos such as the elderly and infirm, or however passably attractive women.

In the words of Abba Eban: “Consensus is what many people say in chorus but do not believe as individuals”. Consensus functions as social "proof", even in support of any direction taken, even howsoever arbitrary and even unsound. Indeed, for prime example, testimonials, a form of social Persecutor-Rescuer and even wielded as peer pressure, are anecdotal evidence and therefore in actuality among the most worthless and completely unreliable known to science.

"In general, most men fail to meet women [because] they travel in packs but go on the hunt solo" or, to employ the Naturalists jargon, they function, and badly, as "sneaky rutters", according to 'CubanJoe's Rules of Engagement', apparently a more condensed version of 'The Pickup Mission'. Indeed, not unlike the first shills rising to their feet from the audience of a faith healer to help get the proverbial ball metaphorically rolling, rent-a-friends, wingmen and yes: wingwomen, are all available for hire, in order to provide social Persecutor-Rescuer and to make introductions: "making you look attractive fun mysterious interesting and scarce (just what Women look for in a real man)."