^{Mouse over above to SELECT YOUR preferred BACKGROUND}

The following is still only a proposal. No claims or promises are made 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)

"Friends may come and go, but enemies accumulate."
- Thomas Jones

A call to action.

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 perfidious harassment and Relational Bullying.

This electronic document, while serving as polemic against Obscurantism and Apologism and to raise consciousness about the pandemic menace of bullying, the primary outreach is for anyone genuinely exasperated enough to at all seriously consider to conspire with me in this, a modest proposal in guerilla social engineering cultures of respect! 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, to ferret out, expose, denounce, ridicule, defuse, outmaneuver, disrupt and undermine bullying and to befriend and defend targets of bullying from harassment, abuse 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.

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.

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. All efforts will only backfire one way or another, given the power relations of bullying as they stand.

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 denials of apologists likewise feeds into their diversionary slight of hand, while, in the alternative, lies uncontested leave the world at the mercy of liars. 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.

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 of which will be questioned and then addressed.

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 to condition people that they will yearn to belong the group, when it is actually interpersonal relationship 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 via our Inductivist public educational system, 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 autonomy, 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.

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 bullying 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 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 repetitive conversation 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?

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?

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 find 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 - ambient or stealth abuse

   

As 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. 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.

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 taboos, 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?

Whistle Blowing  - the psycho-dynamics of conflict
When friendship is not good for your mental health

 Put the whistle blowers in charge!

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 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 remedial socialization and expectations, formal or informal. Counting on 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 mounting 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 of Relational Bullying 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.

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 abuse 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 acting out 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.

In summation, for optimal success, benevolence requires adequate resources, best receptivity and adaptability to the needs of the beneficiary and capable amenable response on the part of the intended beneficiary.

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.

No wonder, then, how Nietzsche deplores the entanglements of Altruism.

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 need for Social Network Optimization Works, an aspect of the proposed CASA, Computer Assisted Social Activity system.

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 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.

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 at work plus Labor Union grievance process, all often more a part of the problem (and a protracted ordeal further breaking down the target of bullying and 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 Relational Bullying 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 to seek to reach out and educate the pedagogs and officials, who have any where withal to fight such injustice as it arises and also to help "bully-proof" the societies in which they work in the first place, than to advise the actual 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 work, is the most under addressed, except for the special case of the persecution of minorities. Although, at least the plight of those harassed by a hostile neighbor is finally beginning to come to light.

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

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 Relational Bullying. 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, syndromes of shunning and "mobbing," even 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 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 Inductivist public educational system, 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 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.

Indeed, 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<