THE LONE WOLF AS A HARBINGER

by Mr. Mean-Spirited



Sometimes my thinking takes a darker turn. I keep hearing government officials describe Lone Wolf attacks as the growing threat to the system in the next few years – but, to me, that sounds like a damn good thing. I have come to believe that Lone Wolf retaliation may well be the only way out of this mess. Because the solitary resister always alarms and agitates the ruling class, perhaps the only means of defeating bureaucratic injustice is through non-bureaucratic attacks. 

Let me define just what the do-gooders find so threatening: the Lone Wolf is exactly what you might expect, a solitary figure bent on destroying the existing order, but the twist comes out of the fact that that both the precise manner and also the particular target of all that destruction are going to be completely idiosyncratic. Nothing terrifies the hierarchal establishment as much as leaderless resistance.  

Lone Wolf attacks begin as an act of retribution. The Lone Wolf might well destroy the liberal elite exactly because he never intended any such thing. The Lone Wolf just wanted to get even. Period. An act of solitary revenge against a definite commercial enterprise often has a way of weakening the entire industry. Personal vengeance against a specific member of the ruling class often results in eradicating high society altogether. Leaderless resistance is private matter – that somehow gets out-of-hand.

Lone Wolf attacks are a matter of self-worth. An individual becomes a Lone Wolf out of disgust with the world A man goes it alone when he just can’t put-up with things any longer. The most essential aspect of the Lone Wolf incident is not what actually might be done against the governing elite, but how becoming a Lone Wolf benefits the assailant himself. Becoming a complete Loner is really a matter of self-respect.   

An embittered man does not join a collective army and accept orders on the remote chance of overturning a totalitarian system. Quite the reverse, only an individual citizen taking independent action might have the possibility of overturning a repressive institution.

Lone Wolf attacks penetrate to the source. The Lone Wolf is far more than just a violent avenger – although he is certainly that – but his actions cut deeper: leaderless resistance ultimately pierces the worldview that created the society in the first place. Although the Lone Wolf might first strike against the actual foundation of the headquarters of the secret police, his assault ends-up damaging the ideological underpinnings of state security. Although the Lone Wolf might initially target a country’s communication infrastructure, his devastation ultimately challenges the cultural norms for all social interaction. Although the Lone Wolf might initially scheme against a particular banking institution, his assault results in endangering the entire economic system.

Lone Wolf attacks are always unpredictable. Lone Wolf attacks cannot ever be prevented by government surveillance. The Lone Wolf doesn’t even know what the fuck he is going to do next, so there is no way that law-enforcement monitoring is going to provide any useful information. Such solitary attacks will never endanger the established order because of the relative damage that such an individual attacker could perpetrate – no, the Lone Wolf will prove victorious as a result of the fact that the carnage is completely impulsive. It is not the actual bloodshed that can defeat the established order, but the erratic nature of the mayhem.  

The nation state cannot prepare for innumerable solitary assailants. No matter how many scenarios the authorities might simulate, the establishment cannot have devised countermeasures for every conceivable assault. The more the government officials try to prevent Lone Wolf attacks, the easier the bureaucrats make it for something novel to be successful.

Lone Wolf attacks are psychological warfare. Ultimately, leaderless resistance is not just a demoralizing attack upon the ruling class, but an assault against the average citizen’s assumption of social stability. Leaderless resistance creates a sense of dread and dismay in the populace.

A single destructive event is not going to overthrow the system, but the cumulative number of attacks upon the social order will eventually destroy the existing system. Again, leaderless resistance ultimately succeeds not because of the specific mayhem of the act itself, but because the public will come to fear that there is no end to the terror.

Lone Wolf attacks are a harbinger of what is to come. A single attacker is not going to overthrow anything, but the Lone Wolf is a forerunner of continued onslaughts in the near future. The solitary avenger is not a prophet, but a precursor. There is always something menacing about a messenger. The Lone Wolf is a sort of outrider of an approaching cultural cataclysm. If you ever feel a prompting to put things right, then the very harmony of the universe awaits your act of vengeance.

If society doesn’t find you a threat, then you haven’t done anything with your life. You don’t necessarily have to take up violence, but a genuine individualist will find a way to intimidate your liberal overlords. Resistance is something that ought to mark your existence.

The bureaucrats will never understand what motivates the Lone Wolf. It is not the animalistic destruction, but the “lone” element that will ultimately destroy the existing order. An ancient philosopher once advised his student to “know thyself” – only the Lone Wolf truly has that knowledge.