How to Spot an Infiltrator. Posted on
Davey D's Hip Hop Corner.
[initially posted here on 8th December 2010]
1- They bring confusion and chaos with them. Every time they come around, it’s drama.
2-
They keep discussions and productivity at a stalemate. They’d rather
keep debating than engaging the community you’re supposed to serve.
3-
They focus on impertinent theoretical points of contention as serious
sources of conflict. It’s never about the people or the work. It’s
always about some ideas, structures, philosophy, or abstract concept.
4- They create/increase tribalism and intensify pre-existing organizational dissatisfaction.
5- They don’t have reputable sources or references for where they come from.
6-
Many have short bursts of vigorous activity, not long histories of
continuous (documented/verifiable) growth and development. They come in,
make a mess, then disappear.
7- Others claim long histories, even
claiming “birthrights” of some sort, as a means to establish authority.
Yet these claims rarely hold up under further investigation.
8- They have ambiguous sources of income.
9-
They came from prison or worked in the military or law enforcement in
the past (or the present, if u dig deep enough). They may be working in
exchange for reduced time/plea agreement/special assignment.
10-
They turn around all questions about them into attacks on the
questioner. They create scapegoats, red herrings, and target people who
may be onto them.
11- They build alliances with weak-minded
dissatisfied people through shared vices, financial generosity, or a
sense of solidarity.
12- They also “give” as a means of establishing authority and legitimacy.
13- These people don’t tend to be primary sources either.
14- They act like zealots but aren’t zealous about social change.
15- They want power and control, but demonstrate no ability to use this power or control for the good of others.
16- They are masters of manipulation, but never teach others how to manipulate the system.
IMAGE SOURCE: Still photo from the film The Molly McGuires. Found on the MUBI, an online cinema website.
Deception
and fear mongering by provocateurs among the working poor has a long
history. The Molly MacGuires were a part of that history.
The
Molly Maguires were members of a secret organization. Many historians
believe the "Mollies" were present in the anthracite coal fields of
Pennsylvania in the United States from approximately the time of the
American Civil War until a series of sensational arrests and trials in
the years 1876−1878. Evidence that the Molly Maguires were responsible
for coalfield crimes, and kidnapping in the U.S. rests largely upon
allegations of one powerful industrialist, and the testimony of one
Pinkerton detective. Fellow prisoners also testified against the alleged
Molly MacGuires, but some believe these witnesses may have been coerced
or bribed.
It is entirely possible that the leaders of the
Molly McGuires were agent provocateurs paid by coal company
industrialists to create terror and confusion; providing the coal
company owners an excuse to attack hard working miners who were trying
to organize into unions to get fair wages, safer working conditions and
freedom from oppression and isolation forced upon them by the mining
companies.
How to Spot an Infiltrator. Posted on Davey D's Hip Hop Corner.
