1. Introduction
The enemy has a new form. Today's wars are fought from computer consoles; climate disinformation campaigns are planned in web conferences; decisions to deny healthcare are codified in software.
Free and just futures demand new strategies.
Unassuming civilians have an outsized ability to make a difference by directly impacting the ordinary services we build and maintain everyday. Many small actions can create a constant and tangible drag on the systems of violence and exploitation. When tyranny suffers, we create an opportunity for more sustainable and prosperous systems to replace it.
These ideas are specific suggestions for taking action in this new theater.
This is not a guide for overt displays of heroism. Surveillance is abundant in the 21st century work environment. Presented here are practical, everyday actions for reducing systemic harm while minimizing vulnerability.
These are Specific Suggestions for Simple Sabotage in the 21st century.
2. Simple Sabotage
- Simple sabotage is more than malicious mischief, and it should always consist of acts whose results will be detrimental to the tools and systems of oppression.
- Occurring on a wide scale, simple sabotage will be a constant and tangible drag on the operations of hostile systems, making it possible for just, resilient, and thriving ones to take their place.
- Simple sabotage does not require specially prepared tools or equipment; it is executed by an ordinary person, and it is carried out in such a way as to involve a minimum danger of injury, detection, and retaliation.
- The saboteur should be creative in using their every-day instruments. Opportunities will present themselves if one looks at their surroundings in a different light. For example, disabling the productivity of an entire workplace may at first seem impossible, but if the saboteur were to unplug a single wifi access point within a space, work might grind to a halt.
- Where destruction is involved, the weapons of the saboteur are materials and tools they might normally be expected to possess in their particular occupation. Their arsenal is the conference room, the email client, their own usual software applications and supplies. The targets of sabotage are objects to which they have normal and inconspicuous access in everyday life.
- There is also a type of simple sabotage that requires no destructive tools whatsoever and
produces physical damage, if any, by highly indirect means. It is based on universal
opportunities to make faulty decisions and generally slow the efficiency of a hostile
process. Making a faulty decision may be simply a matter of committing software changes to
one repository instead of another or copying the wrong person onto an email.
This type of activity, sometimes referred to as the "human element," is frequently responsible for accidents, delays, and general obstruction even under normal conditions. The potential saboteur should discover what types of faulty decisions and operations are normally found in their work and should then devise their sabotage so as to enlarge that "margin for error" while avoiding detection.
- The saboteur should never attack targets beyond their capacity or the capacity of their tools. An inexperienced person should not, for example, attempt to deploy malware or falsify legal documents, but should make use of familiar tools to carry out their work.
- The saboteur finds power in the routine, the inconspicuous, and the mundane.
- The saboteur should try to damage only objects, materials, and systems known to be used to carry out oppression or to be destined for use in harmful systems. (It will be safe to assume that almost any surveillance technology is destined for oppressive use.) Without special knowledge, however, it would be undesirable to attempt destruction of accessibility technologies or interfere with the distribution of health services.
- The saboteur should never aim to hinder aid.
- Potential saboteurs should vigilantly consider the extent of surveillance in contemporary work environments. Assume all actions are monitored when using an employer-provided digital device, such as a computer or smartphone, or on personal devices after any employer-provided software is installed onto them. Devices provided for public use like those in libraries should also be used with caution.
- Although the saboteur may rarely have direct access to explicitly malicious processes—such as eviction and displacement, ecological destruction, or the manufacture of anti-personnel weapons—they should prioritize these above all others.
- It will not be possible to evaluate the desirability of simple sabotage in an organization without having in mind what specific individual acts and results are embraced by the definition of simple sabotage.
- Access to these materials should not depend upon any one individual and should be published widely to increase resilience.
3. Specific Suggestions
- Unplugging routers, committing buggy code, changing file extensions, acting absentminded, feigning ignorance, and hiding key technologies and supplies will waste the materials, manpower, and time of the enemy. Sabotage may be as mundane as leaving the caps off of shared dry erase markers or as complex as supporting unprofitable business objectives.
- The generator provided on this webpage suggests specific acts, classified according to context.
- This entire library of specific suggestions and accompanying source code is deliberately placed into the public domain allowing anyone to download and repurpose for their particular needs.
- As new techniques are developed, or new fields explored, the public is encouraged to make amendments and independently republish this reference with their own updates.
- The suggestions presented here focus on novel actions within contemporary office and administrative work settings. More traditional environments are better covered by the Simple Sabotage Field Manual published by the United States Office of Strategic Services.
- Interactive table of specific suggestions is provided below.
#
Context
Specific Suggestion
9114
Digital, Anyone
Reset passwords on shared accounts
1738
Digital, Code, Design
Create incorrect or burdensome field validation requirements in forms
2657
Digital, Code
Add superfluous dependencies
2747
Digital, Anyone
Flag every email as urgent
685
Physical, Anyone
Remove or insert empty batteries in remotes and slide advancers
8463
Digital, Code
Use confusing (overly abbreviated, etc) variable names
4050
Physical, Digital, Anyone
Demanding many specific examples "just to make sure you understand"
2619
Physical, Anyone
Unplug the conference phones
5584
Digital, Code
Flag functional code as in-need-of-review
3549
Digital, Code
Use inefficient algorithms
7782
Physical, Digital, Anyone
Insist that every stakeholder needs to be present in the meeting.
9913
Physical, Anyone
Spill liquid on the keyboard
4058
Physical, Digital, Business
Refuse requests for upgraded tools as too costly or too risky
91
Digital, Anyone
Send email content as images rather than as text
8003
Digital, Anyone
Use confusing or misleading versioning schemes in filenames
1690
Digital, Anyone
CC wrong recipient on an email chain (easy to do for people with similar names)
7957
Physical, Anyone
Require paper copies of documents be made
2975
Digital, Anyone
Do not install recommended updates
8101
Physical, Digital, Anyone
Refrain from making decisions until all possible stakeholders can weigh in
6593
Physical, Digital, Anyone
Create overly-ambitious timelines and set impossible-to-keep deadlines
3929
Digital, Anyone
Send unnecessary meeting invites then cancel them last-minute
5814
Digital, Anyone
Don't use collaborative software, just email things back and forth
1985
Physical, Digital, Anyone
Use excessive abbreviations and jargon
4529
Digital, Business
Introduce burdensome software license approval processes
3999
Physical, Anyone
Forget your keys or card to enter the building
687
Digital, Design
Use placeholder text (lorem ipsum) and images in final drafts
4988
Digital, Anyone
Use the wrong sharing settings when using a collaborative document
7896
Digital, Design
Put everything on one layer in digital art software
2235
Physical, Anyone
Unplug the coffee machine
3004
Physical, Digital, Anyone
Re-organize files and important documents
3361
Digital, Anyone
Leave off the phone or video call information from a calendar invite
2259
Physical, Digital, Anyone
When hiring, include unnecessary candidate requirements to limit applicants
4299
Digital, Anyone
Use multiple different communication channels to discuss a single topic or decision
9392
Digital, Code, Design
Log users out frequently for "security reasons"
3811
Digital, Anyone
Ask people to look for emails or files that do not exist
3824
Digital, Anyone
Leave people out of the loop on key updates and communications
8465
Physical, Digital, Anyone
Coordinate vacation time so that multiple essential employees are all absent at once
2971
Physical, Anyone
Send colleagues or higher ups anonymous, unexplained gifts (bouquets, candy)
8816
Physical, Digital, Anyone
Excessivly require options to be implemented for review before deciding between them
3458
Digital, Design
Recycle names for different design assets
4686
Digital, Anyone
Mute and unmute inappropriately during a call
2647
Physical, Digital, Anyone
Require tracking of distracting metrics
2094
Physical, Digital, Anyone
Spill a drink during a meeting
4. Motivating The Saboteur
There's a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious, makes you so sick at heart that you can't take part! You can't even passively take part! … That doesn't mean that you have to break anything. One thousand people sitting down some place, not letting anybody by, not [letting] anything happen, can stop any machine. Mario Savio
We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. Elie Wiesel
Nonviolence is a powerful and just weapon. It is a weapon unique in history, which cuts without wounding and ennobles the man who wields it. It is a sword that heals. Martin Luther King Jr.
When we identify where our privilege intersects with somebody else's oppression, we'll find our opportunities to make real change. Ijeoma Oluo
When you get these jobs you have been so brilliantly trained for, just remember that your real job is that if you are free, you need to free somebody else. If you have some power, then your job is to empower somebody else. Toni Morrison
Don't sit around and wait for the perfect opportunity to come along — find something and make it an opportunity. Cecile Richards
Our problems stem from our acceptance of this filthy, rotten system. Dorothy Day
Colorful demonstrations and weekend marches are vital but alone are not powerful enough to stop wars. Wars will be stopped only when soldiers refuse to fight, when workers refuse to load weapons onto ships and aircraft, when people boycott the economic outposts of Empire that are strung across the globe. Arundhati Roy
Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. Thomas Paine
自由、公正、平等是我們的目標。 孙逸仙
As we contemplate the vast amount of work to be done for justice and peace in this world, we trust that we will find the grace to accomplish , to believe in, and to hope for the greatest things. Peter Faber
It is the greatest of all mistakes to do nothing because you can only do a little. Sydney Smith
5. Supplementals
- This webpage was originally created in the English language.
- The translations presented on this webpage have been volunteered by the public.
- Any support for enhancing the accessibility of these resources is welcome.
- A ZIP file archive of this webpage is available for download at this link.
- This webpage can be hosted on any web server that is capable of serving a static website.
- To submit requests, translations, suggestions, or other support use this email address: Reveal
- You can encrypt your message using the tool provided here: Reveal
Published into the Public Domain.
First Published: NOV 28 2024
Updated: NOV 29 2024