“From all this we may learn that there are two races of men in this world, but only these two—the ‘race’ of the decent man and the ‘race of the indecent man. Both are found everywhere; they penetrate into all groups of society. No group consists entirely of decent or indecent people.” --Viktor Frankl
Isn't this series just about the BEST EVER, thanks to the gifts and insights of Gloria Horton-Young -- She who stirs the storm!
She STIRS the storm with deep insight and tremendous poetic gifts.
Among the many posts I read, this series is the one I am storing to read and again.
Each post in the series is so full of information and humane and effective opposition to the crisis stirred by the chasm opened by Trump in our society.
Gloria Horton-Young's columns show the way forward and inspire . . . HOPE.
Thank you, Armand. It's a work in progress. The more I read the OSS manual, the more in awe I am of the authors. Such good plain sense and cleverness. And, yes, the manual has given me hope. I have hope that I can find ways to resist, to circumvent new rules and regulations being thrown at us every single hour of the day by the New Nazi Regime.
Ok. You hooked me by episide 3. This serial, hopefully I am using that term accurately, is genius. What a unique way to teach resistance. As Vivian describes it more each episide, its becoming ingrained. I am actually starting to think that way, very sneakily.
Gloria, the Hauptmann von Köpenick came to mind immediately—how he turned the system’s own rules into his way forward. And here we are again, except this time, the tools of resistance stretch across centuries, and the people pulling the levers aren’t the ones they expect.
1. The parallels between 1944 and now? They’re everywhere. Back then, resistance meant disruption through small, strategic acts—forcing inefficiency, making bureaucracy buckle under its own weight. Now, it’s not just paper trails and misfiled documents; it’s digital bottlenecks, algorithmic noise, and exhaustion as a tactic. The difference? We don’t just resist a system—we resist while drowning in information overload, where outrage often gets mistaken for action. And yet, slowing the gears still works. The method hasn’t changed, only the medium.
2. Joy as a weapon? Absolutely. The people in power expect resistance to be grim, draining, unsustainable. But when we bring laughter, celebration, and lightness into it, we shift the terms. They don’t know what to do with resistance that doesn’t just endure but thrives. The challenge is making sure that joy fuels action, not just comfort—keeping it sharp, not dulling its edges into complacency.
3. Everyday spaces as resistance hubs? Always. People gathering—whether for a book club or a potluck—have always been the beginning of something bigger. Theaters, kitchens, even casual conversations are places where ideas take root. The question is whether we use them with intention or let them be swallowed by routine.
4. Can we live without the corporations that shape our world? Already ditched Amazon in December 2023, so that one’s done. Would I give up my phone if Apple went full authoritarian? As long as it works, no. After that, there’s a company in Germany called Fairphone, and that’s probably where I’d head. But let’s be real—living in an Apple universe makes that a challenge. And my guess? They actually do follow your rule. As much as I would have liked for them to stay out of the room, my sense is that they attended with deliberation. They can’t afford to be out of the loop. They need to know what’s heading their way through the press, and they’re not going to rely on secondhand reports when they can be in the room themselves.
And my hope? That behind closed doors, Apple is already adjusting—rewriting handbooks, renaming positions, making sure that when the storm hits, they can carry on under a different name with everything looking just the same. Nobody knows what legacy Steve Jobs left them, but he was a visionary. He thought ahead. If they’re smart, they’re not just reacting. They’re adapting.
5. Power dynamics and gender? The Murdoch Effect says it all. A 92-year-old billionaire dating a woman in her 30s is considered normal, but if a 92-year-old woman was in a relationship with a woman in her 30s? That would be a scandal. Women are expected to fade into the background, while men—especially powerful ones—continue to take up space. And yet, Vivian and Riley move through power differently. They don’t demand visibility. They decide when and where to be seen. That’s the kind of power that gets underestimated.
And maybe that ties back to the kind of resistance that doesn’t just survive but shifts the rules entirely. Buddhist traditions have a lot to say about that. Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Taiwan, Sri Lanka—all have seen disruption and oppression in the past 200 years. And their resistance was never about force. It was the opposite. They didn’t operate from rigidity or brute strength but from flexibility, adaptability, and softness.
Actually, those same three qualities—flexibility, adaptability, and softness—led to my own liberation from oppression. As long as I was bracing, pushing back, trying not to be suffocated, I couldn’t free myself. Survival came through adaptability and flexibility. Liberation called for softness.
I’ve never been white-water rafting, but I know what happens when you get caught in a vortex. You get pulled down, down, down. Most people fight that. They try to escape at the surface, but that’s impossible—unless you have superhuman strength. The only way out is to soften, to stop resisting, to let yourself be pulled all the way to the bottom. That’s where the vortex narrows. That’s where you slip free. Or where the river spits you out anyway.
And that last point—making the machine grind a little slower? That’s the heart of it. When they demand efficiency, we insist on thoroughness. When they push for speed, we require clarity. Every delay, every careful request for documentation, every extra step in a process they wish would be seamless—it all adds up.
This is a game they don’t even realize they’re playing. And that’s exactly why it works.
Wise words: “And that last point—making the machine grind a little slower? That’s the heart of it. When they demand efficiency, we insist on thoroughness. When they push for speed, we require clarity. Every delay, every careful request for documentation, every extra step in a process they wish would be seamless—it all adds up. “
Exactly. You get it! So many people skim over the manual and dismiss it as outdated but with imagination one can see how see the instructions can be improved, updated for today’s world.
Mary Louise, I appreciate that. The demand for speed is always about control—rushing people past the details, making resistance seem impossible. But slowing things down, insisting on precision, making every step intentional? That shifts power. It’s not obstruction; it’s reclaiming agency. And when enough people do that, any system stops running on autopilot.
We must make sure that any federal employees who manage to keep their jobs after the purge are provided with a copy of that official manual. It would be so useful for them.
Being a child of the 60s I keep thinking let's bring back the Yuppies. Throwing their kind of monkey wrenching into the system with absurd joy. Maybe my generation could relate to that too.
“From all this we may learn that there are two races of men in this world, but only these two—the ‘race’ of the decent man and the ‘race of the indecent man. Both are found everywhere; they penetrate into all groups of society. No group consists entirely of decent or indecent people.” --Viktor Frankl
David B: Very good.
Isn't this series just about the BEST EVER, thanks to the gifts and insights of Gloria Horton-Young -- She who stirs the storm!
She STIRS the storm with deep insight and tremendous poetic gifts.
Among the many posts I read, this series is the one I am storing to read and again.
Each post in the series is so full of information and humane and effective opposition to the crisis stirred by the chasm opened by Trump in our society.
Gloria Horton-Young's columns show the way forward and inspire . . . HOPE.
Thank you, Armand. It's a work in progress. The more I read the OSS manual, the more in awe I am of the authors. Such good plain sense and cleverness. And, yes, the manual has given me hope. I have hope that I can find ways to resist, to circumvent new rules and regulations being thrown at us every single hour of the day by the New Nazi Regime.
And how great would it be to sit down with her and her wife over a fine glass of champagne!
Correction: A bottle of champagne. I would settle for a good Prosec.
Excellent correction. I agree. Thank you.
David B: THAT would be grand.
I might choose, over three hours, three shots of 4-Roses Bourbon.
Hiccup!
I would love to listen to Crystal-Lee and "She who stirs the storm!" -- Gloria Horton-Young for hours.
I love this David. Thank you for sharing with me.
Ok. You hooked me by episide 3. This serial, hopefully I am using that term accurately, is genius. What a unique way to teach resistance. As Vivian describes it more each episide, its becoming ingrained. I am actually starting to think that way, very sneakily.
Best regards in quadruplicate.
Thank you in decuplicate (ten copies)
Thanks for reminding me about the joy & fun! (I get too serious!)
Hopefully, this story will be fun for you to read.
Gloria, the Hauptmann von Köpenick came to mind immediately—how he turned the system’s own rules into his way forward. And here we are again, except this time, the tools of resistance stretch across centuries, and the people pulling the levers aren’t the ones they expect.
1. The parallels between 1944 and now? They’re everywhere. Back then, resistance meant disruption through small, strategic acts—forcing inefficiency, making bureaucracy buckle under its own weight. Now, it’s not just paper trails and misfiled documents; it’s digital bottlenecks, algorithmic noise, and exhaustion as a tactic. The difference? We don’t just resist a system—we resist while drowning in information overload, where outrage often gets mistaken for action. And yet, slowing the gears still works. The method hasn’t changed, only the medium.
2. Joy as a weapon? Absolutely. The people in power expect resistance to be grim, draining, unsustainable. But when we bring laughter, celebration, and lightness into it, we shift the terms. They don’t know what to do with resistance that doesn’t just endure but thrives. The challenge is making sure that joy fuels action, not just comfort—keeping it sharp, not dulling its edges into complacency.
3. Everyday spaces as resistance hubs? Always. People gathering—whether for a book club or a potluck—have always been the beginning of something bigger. Theaters, kitchens, even casual conversations are places where ideas take root. The question is whether we use them with intention or let them be swallowed by routine.
4. Can we live without the corporations that shape our world? Already ditched Amazon in December 2023, so that one’s done. Would I give up my phone if Apple went full authoritarian? As long as it works, no. After that, there’s a company in Germany called Fairphone, and that’s probably where I’d head. But let’s be real—living in an Apple universe makes that a challenge. And my guess? They actually do follow your rule. As much as I would have liked for them to stay out of the room, my sense is that they attended with deliberation. They can’t afford to be out of the loop. They need to know what’s heading their way through the press, and they’re not going to rely on secondhand reports when they can be in the room themselves.
And my hope? That behind closed doors, Apple is already adjusting—rewriting handbooks, renaming positions, making sure that when the storm hits, they can carry on under a different name with everything looking just the same. Nobody knows what legacy Steve Jobs left them, but he was a visionary. He thought ahead. If they’re smart, they’re not just reacting. They’re adapting.
5. Power dynamics and gender? The Murdoch Effect says it all. A 92-year-old billionaire dating a woman in her 30s is considered normal, but if a 92-year-old woman was in a relationship with a woman in her 30s? That would be a scandal. Women are expected to fade into the background, while men—especially powerful ones—continue to take up space. And yet, Vivian and Riley move through power differently. They don’t demand visibility. They decide when and where to be seen. That’s the kind of power that gets underestimated.
And maybe that ties back to the kind of resistance that doesn’t just survive but shifts the rules entirely. Buddhist traditions have a lot to say about that. Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Taiwan, Sri Lanka—all have seen disruption and oppression in the past 200 years. And their resistance was never about force. It was the opposite. They didn’t operate from rigidity or brute strength but from flexibility, adaptability, and softness.
Actually, those same three qualities—flexibility, adaptability, and softness—led to my own liberation from oppression. As long as I was bracing, pushing back, trying not to be suffocated, I couldn’t free myself. Survival came through adaptability and flexibility. Liberation called for softness.
I’ve never been white-water rafting, but I know what happens when you get caught in a vortex. You get pulled down, down, down. Most people fight that. They try to escape at the surface, but that’s impossible—unless you have superhuman strength. The only way out is to soften, to stop resisting, to let yourself be pulled all the way to the bottom. That’s where the vortex narrows. That’s where you slip free. Or where the river spits you out anyway.
And that last point—making the machine grind a little slower? That’s the heart of it. When they demand efficiency, we insist on thoroughness. When they push for speed, we require clarity. Every delay, every careful request for documentation, every extra step in a process they wish would be seamless—it all adds up.
This is a game they don’t even realize they’re playing. And that’s exactly why it works.
THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!
Wise words: “And that last point—making the machine grind a little slower? That’s the heart of it. When they demand efficiency, we insist on thoroughness. When they push for speed, we require clarity. Every delay, every careful request for documentation, every extra step in a process they wish would be seamless—it all adds up. “
Exactly. You get it! So many people skim over the manual and dismiss it as outdated but with imagination one can see how see the instructions can be improved, updated for today’s world.
Mary Louise, I appreciate that. The demand for speed is always about control—rushing people past the details, making resistance seem impossible. But slowing things down, insisting on precision, making every step intentional? That shifts power. It’s not obstruction; it’s reclaiming agency. And when enough people do that, any system stops running on autopilot.
Learning at the feet of the master is delightful, and sparks maniacal laughter at times. I hang on every word Vivian utters.
And oh my, I want a silver headed cane too
+snort+ we all want that cane.
Will a walking stick do?
Most certainly!
As long as it has a silver handle. 🤭
ROFL!!
We must make sure that any federal employees who manage to keep their jobs after the purge are provided with a copy of that official manual. It would be so useful for them.
Brilliant idea.
This is absolutely wonderful! It's a fascinating piece of history to base a story around, and the characters are so beautifully drawn... 😎
Thank you, Chris!!!
Amazing and brilliantly done. I feel my helplessness fade a bit as I become acquainted with the knowledge of how and ways to Resist.
Morgan, read the manual and look for the ways you can "modernize" the information. The document is brilliant.
YES, Agree totally. Thanks!
What an inspiration to us all! Keep writing this tale
Thank you. I am working on it.
This is so beautifully written and I find it so interesting It is such a great read To be continued? I bloody hope so lol
I'm working on it. It's coming together--kindof. LOL
Being a child of the 60s I keep thinking let's bring back the Yuppies. Throwing their kind of monkey wrenching into the system with absurd joy. Maybe my generation could relate to that too.
I was a teenager in the 60s. It was a wild ride.
Mesmerising. Anna Frank. SCHINDLER. MY RELATIVES SHOT INTO THE Danube. It all comes to mind...