The Activists

I am an antichrist
I am an anarchist
Don't know what I want
but I know how to get it
I want to destroy, passer-by
Cause I wanna be Anarchy
Sex Pistols "Anarchy in the UK"
We must doubt intelligence and again place our faith in the instincts.
Adolf Hitler
Unlike the Technological Underground, the Activists have no real plan, and prefer action before thinking. This makes them much less dangerous in the long run, but in the short run fanaticism can make up for lack of foresight. Most of the terrorist groups fall in this category, as well as various more or less irrational social movements.

Knights of the Oppressed Earth

Buy that life-hog faith:
Be young again
Raise the dead
No way.

Only the earth renews:
Rejuvenation therapy
In the grave.
No preservatives.
General Dy Young, in Tech Heaven by Linda Nagata
One of the most well-organized eco-terrorist groups. The Knights fight against anybody and anything they see as representing oppression of the biosphere or "unnatural". They have been behind attacks on transhumanist groups, research into new technology and some hospital clinics. It is notable that they have attacked relatively few politicians or corporate executives compared to other eco-terrorists, making some speculate that the Knights are actually supported by someone up there.

The Knights are not adverse to use fairly advanced technology to achieve their goals; an advanced sniper rifle and hi-tech camouflage are quite acceptable tools to rid the Earth from technologist scum. They usually plan their attacks carefully, striking unexpectedly during vulnerable times and retreating into the shadows after finishing. They have a cell structure, connected through secret net communications and hiding inside other organizations or groups.

The Knights have ties to the Global Autonomous Network, the Lifespan Movement, other ecoterrorists and most likely Green Nation. Quite naturally, the entire TU regards them as enemies, and will do its best to expose and neutralize the Knights.

Age of Mayhem

Nothing is true.
Nothing is sacred.
Everything you know is wrong.

Everything is true.
Everything is sacred.
Everything you believe is real.

A high-tech terror group doing its best to use new technology to cause maximum harm in order to make people "wake up and see the self-evident chaos of the pandaemonaeon". The group is firmly based in a mixture of millennialist mythology borrowed from chaos magick, Christianity, popular culture and an enthusiastic embrace of everything new and dangerous.

It was founded by Frerik Drabbe, a charismatic Dutch cult-leader when he on New Year's eve 2000 saw a vision of the new age of mayhem, where all humans would become gods free to do whatever they want. Reality is subjective, and by experiencing chaos and change humans can grow into superhumans. After his trial in 2005 where he and his original followers were sentenced to life imprisonment for the massacre of Brest in 2003 even more people flocked to the Age of Mayhem, and it became an international terrorist group. Drabbe was killed 2007 in a bombing of his prison, most likely an attempt by the group to free him. His "apotheosis" was the signal for a wave of attacks across the world, killing over a thousand people (most due to a successful sabotage raid against a chemical factory in Mexico City where a chlorine gas tank ruptured).

The group mainly consists of loners claiming to belong the "real" Age of Mayhem, avidly reading Drabbe's old rants on the Net and generally not doing much harm. The real danger comes from the few loosely organized cells that actually do have their act together; while they are unstable they can often inflict serious harm using high technology from afar and are notoriously tricky to track down (unless they break up due to internal conflicts, which is very common given their egocentric and solipsistic mindset). There exists several "manuals" for Age of Mayhem operation in circulation, instructing how to bring about maximal enlightenment.

The Age of Mayhem tries to get its hand on the newest and most destructive technology and drugs, in order to use it to spread enlightenment and chaos. It has in the past cooperated with the WETF, but the WETF has since then withdrawn its support; today nobody supports the Age, and it strikes indiscriminately in all directions.

Rant by Drabbe

Democracy Defenders

The nation obtained parliamentary government as a gift from the hands of deadly foes of freedom, who waited for an opportunity to take back their present.
Ludwig von Mises, discussing the Freikorps' victory over the German communists
Pro-FOG activist groups opposing what they regard as subversion. The original Defenders emerged among people associated with the construction unions in Europe as a reaction to the autonomous attacks on large infrastructure projects such as new highways, but soon developed into an overall anti-subversion movement. They regard themselves as protecting society from anarchy and crime, and democracy from anti-democratic movements. The original Defenders soon gained imitators in many places, although the different groups have never managed to get along well. Most are little more than vigilante groups, often politically conservative and against all forms of deviance. Their size range from neighborhood watches and ad hoc gangs of less than a dozen people formed in response to outside threats, to more well-organized networks keeping track of what the autonomous networks are up to, alerting the police and bringing in counter-protesters at political rallies. The Democracy Defenders are controversial; officially they are not condoned, but there are at least a few American politicians who have openly praised them and silent support from many ordinary people who fear the activists.

The Global Autonomous Network

Burn, Babylon, Burn!
Thanks to the Net the originally loosely connected groups of anarchists, militant eco-activists, animal righters, home occupants and other "autonomous" groups have become more firmly linked. Today there exists a vast and tangled network of groups opposing the FOG through anarchism, low-level subversion, media plays, sabotage, illegal demonstrations and by simply dropping out and living beside it. The overall style of the global network is left-enviro-neopaganism, although the ideological grip of most members is fairly weak. There are no leaders, no planning, but through the network members can find similar-minded people willing to help with their various projects and demos. In many ways the network is similar to the Concordat, but with significantly lower technological level, a very different set of ideologies and much more infiltration. Still, it is powerful and quite often able to cause serious trouble for the FOG.

Activism: Tools for Building a New Paradigm

Racists

The state of mind, which subordinates the interests of the ego to the conservation of the community, is really the first premise for every truly human culture. The basic attitude from which such activity arises, we call -- to distinguish it from egoism and selfishness -- idealism. By this we understand only the individual's capacity to make sacrifices for the community, for his fellow men.
Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf
Just as the anarchists organized themselves at the end of the 20th century, so did the racist and right wing movements. They form a loose network fairly similar to the Global Autonomous Network, but violently opposed to it.

A worrying trend is that parts of the racist right have gained political legitimacy, and while they remain a small minority they do have at least some real political voice.

The Crackpot Underground

Yes, there is a kind of crackpot underground! UFOlogists, conspiracy theorists, bizarre cults, ranting schizophreniacs, crackpot inventors, true believers in tabloid reality, ancient hippies and other less sane people form a diffuse network through the Net and fringe culture to exchange their views (or rather, everybody is talking, nobody listening) with some ties to all other fringe movements, be they the activists, TU or youth groups. It isn't very efficient at anything (the defining factor is a loose grip on reality), but it provides some interesting potential for cover -- nobody in his right mind cares to investigate The Society for Transcendent Etheric Power carefully, which makes it an ideal place to hide for real subversives.

Lifespan Movement

The Lifespan Movement is the natural reaction to the graying of society. Many people think the root of many social ills are that people grow too old: they compete with the young for jobs, cost the taxpayers a lot for health care and pensions, stifle change and remain in power long after they should naturally have left the scene.

The official face of the Movement is a number of fairly respectable organizations such as the American Association for Socially Responsible Health Care (AASRHC), Institute of Demographic Policy, some environmental groups (including Green Nation) and plenty of Concerned Experts. They propose fairly "reasonable" solutions, such as changes in health care policy, avoiding the introduction of new and expensive therapies and promoting a "natural view of aging". They have fairly good media ties and often lobby for their views, but for obvious reasons most of their proposals fail politically.

The other side is ageist violence. This is largely uncoordinated lashing out by disaffected youth against the "gerks", often just street violence or vandalism. But there are ageist groups, just like there are racist groups (there is a noticeable overlap). Whether they have ties to the more clean cut Lifespan Movement or not is hard to say, but they share the same general philosophy that society would be better off with fewer old. Quite naturally ageism causes concern in the political debate, and there have been major attempts in the EU and US to counteract it. But the trend seems to be towards growing tensions: the old are starting to hide more and more in fortified sun cities or demanding better police protection, and the ageists are getting more violent.

The Blaze of Islam

... hence it is the duty of Islam to annihilate all such systems, as they are obstacles in the way to universal freedom
Sayyid Qutb, Ma'alim fi'l tariq
The Blaze of Islam is one of the biggest Islamic terror groups in the world. It was founded by sheik Muhammad Al-Rahman Hajj in Cairo in 1999. The goal of the Blaze is to create a global Umma, an Islamic state encompassing all Muslim countries. The most visible part is of course the kidnappings and terror bombings, but it also builds schools, hospitals and other social institutions in Muslim countries where the corrupt governments spend most of their time stealing form the population. This unfortunately gives them legitimacy in the eyes of many Muslims that support the jihad of the Blaze.

Let's face it, the Blaze is a bunch of lunatic fringe whacks. They are not the mainstream of Islam. For instance, sheik Al-Rahman claims to be of the Quraish-tribe, like the prophet Muhammad, and therefore claims to be the true caliph of all Muslims. Al-Rahman's interpretation of the shari'a (Muslim law) is so strict that the talibans of Afghanistan look like secularized libertarians in comparison. But he's gaining ground. He provokes the governments of the Muslims countries and the West to get harsher and harsher. By that harshness he gains support from oppressed Muslims that don't think there is any other way than supporting the Islamic world government. The Blaze has had clashes with the FIS in Algeria and the Hizbollah in Lebanon but the greatest threats against the Blaze are two very successful Concordat cells: The New Savak and the UII.

The sheik isn't a stupid man, he understands the value of ideas, and if the peoples of the Muslim world have an alternative to corrupt governments and fundamentalist loonies they might not follow the loonies. Therefore he is presently intensifying the jihad against the Savak and UII, so the Blaze will probably be on The Blacklist soon. How the Blaze finances its operations is still a mystery.

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