Fifth-Generation Warfare: The Battle for Your Heart and Mind
Commentary “All warfare is based on deception.”—Sun Tzu, “The Art of War” Much has been written on the various generations of warfare, from the ancient phalanx, to gunpowder, to mechanized warfare, to the decentralized warfare of recent years. Al Jazeera describes fifth-generation warfare in this way, “In the modern era, wars are not fought by armies or guerrillas, but in the minds of common citizens.” Journalist James Corbett calls fifth-generation warfare “an all-out war that is being waged against all of us by our governments and the international organizations to which they belong.” Unfortunately, most people don’t even realize that a war is taking place, that they’re part of it, and that they’re losing. In 1999, Colonels Qiao Liang and Wang Xiangsui of the People’s Liberation Army developed a strategy for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) called Unrestricted Warfare. They believed that U.S. military dominance would be difficult to surmount, but that focused assaults on other areas, such as politics, economy, technology, and culture, could bring down America. But the philosophy behind Unrestricted Warfare didn’t originate with the CCP. In the 1920s, Edward Bernays developed the art of propaganda (information warfare) for the modern age. Bernays’s signature accomplishments included helping to sell World War I to the American people, persuading women to smoke cigarettes, and perfecting manipulation techniques for corporations and governments. Bernays’s 1928 book “Propaganda” was eagerly devoured by Joseph Goebbels and used in Hitler’s regime. In the 1930s, Italian Communist Antonio Gramsci outlined a similar strategy in his “Prison Notebooks.” Gramsci contended, “Any country grounded in Judaeo-Christian values cannot be overthrown until those roots are cut. … Socialism is precisely the religion that must overwhelm Christianity. … In the new order, Socialism will triumph by first capturing the culture via infiltration of schools, churches, and the media.” Since 2020, Americans have been subjected to extreme doses of fifth-generation warfare. We’ve been told that Jan. 6 was an “insurrection,” the 2020 election was the “most secure in American history,” COVID-19 vaccines are “safe and effective,” masks, lockdowns, and social distancing “save lives,” gender and sexuality are “fluid,” and inflation is only “transitory.” These and thousands of other provable lies are still parroted by the revolutionaries in power. Consider the following five categories of modern fifth-generation warfare: Education For decades, children have been the greatest target of Marxist educators who realized that “The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world.” Preparing every child on the planet to willingly submit to a godless, socialist society has been a foremost goal since John Dewey, the father of modern education. Culture Education, media, social media, and entertainment play a massive role in the Gramscian reshaping of culture. Celebrities are used to brainwash and encourage impressionable youth to be immoral, use drugs, and be obsessed with wealth, image, and self. Marxists know insecure people are easy to control. The transgender movement is fifth-generation warfare, and its goal is to make Americans psychologically uncertain about everything and afraid to ever speak out. If biological facts aren’t concrete, then what facts are? Economy Americans have seen 97 percent of their money inflated away since the establishment of the Federal Reserve in 1913. The government didn’t take this through taxes, nor did armed thugs demand it at gunpoint. John Maynard Keynes described the devious strategy: “By a continuing process of inflation, government can confiscate, secretly and unobserved, an important part of the wealth of their citizens.” Marxists know that poor, hungry people are easy to control. A central bank digital currency (CBDC) is the next stage in this economic war, where every transaction can be traced, green spending can be enforced, and those who disagree with the latest creed of woke ideology (or refuse their updated mRNA booster) can be financially canceled. Think Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s treatment of Canada’s Freedom Convoy just over a year ago. Health In another Epoch Times article, The Raw Egg Nationalist notes that the sickening of the American populace over the past 100 years greatly benefits “the corporations, the medical regime, and the government.” Over 100 years ago, modern medicine was hijacked, doctors were taught that a prescription or pill could cure every malady, and medicine shifted toward treating symptoms and selling medications. During COVID-19, elites rejected inexpensive, proven, life-saving protocols and forced expensive, deadly treatments on the vulnerable. Technology The technology exists to make “Brave New World” and “1984” a reality. New York City is turning its police cruisers into 360-degree surveillance vehicles. Several European cities, including Paris, France, and
Commentary
“All warfare is based on deception.”—Sun Tzu, “The Art of War”
Much has been written on the various generations of warfare, from the ancient phalanx, to gunpowder, to mechanized warfare, to the decentralized warfare of recent years.
Al Jazeera describes fifth-generation warfare in this way, “In the modern era, wars are not fought by armies or guerrillas, but in the minds of common citizens.” Journalist James Corbett calls fifth-generation warfare “an all-out war that is being waged against all of us by our governments and the international organizations to which they belong.”
Unfortunately, most people don’t even realize that a war is taking place, that they’re part of it, and that they’re losing.
In 1999, Colonels Qiao Liang and Wang Xiangsui of the People’s Liberation Army developed a strategy for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) called Unrestricted Warfare. They believed that U.S. military dominance would be difficult to surmount, but that focused assaults on other areas, such as politics, economy, technology, and culture, could bring down America.
But the philosophy behind Unrestricted Warfare didn’t originate with the CCP. In the 1920s, Edward Bernays developed the art of propaganda (information warfare) for the modern age. Bernays’s signature accomplishments included helping to sell World War I to the American people, persuading women to smoke cigarettes, and perfecting manipulation techniques for corporations and governments. Bernays’s 1928 book “Propaganda” was eagerly devoured by Joseph Goebbels and used in Hitler’s regime.
In the 1930s, Italian Communist Antonio Gramsci outlined a similar strategy in his “Prison Notebooks.” Gramsci contended, “Any country grounded in Judaeo-Christian values cannot be overthrown until those roots are cut. … Socialism is precisely the religion that must overwhelm Christianity. … In the new order, Socialism will triumph by first capturing the culture via infiltration of schools, churches, and the media.”
Since 2020, Americans have been subjected to extreme doses of fifth-generation warfare. We’ve been told that Jan. 6 was an “insurrection,” the 2020 election was the “most secure in American history,” COVID-19 vaccines are “safe and effective,” masks, lockdowns, and social distancing “save lives,” gender and sexuality are “fluid,” and inflation is only “transitory.” These and thousands of other provable lies are still parroted by the revolutionaries in power.
Consider the following five categories of modern fifth-generation warfare:
Education
For decades, children have been the greatest target of Marxist educators who realized that “The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world.” Preparing every child on the planet to willingly submit to a godless, socialist society has been a foremost goal since John Dewey, the father of modern education.
Culture
Education, media, social media, and entertainment play a massive role in the Gramscian reshaping of culture. Celebrities are used to brainwash and encourage impressionable youth to be immoral, use drugs, and be obsessed with wealth, image, and self. Marxists know insecure people are easy to control. The transgender movement is fifth-generation warfare, and its goal is to make Americans psychologically uncertain about everything and afraid to ever speak out. If biological facts aren’t concrete, then what facts are?
Economy
Americans have seen 97 percent of their money inflated away since the establishment of the Federal Reserve in 1913. The government didn’t take this through taxes, nor did armed thugs demand it at gunpoint. John Maynard Keynes described the devious strategy: “By a continuing process of inflation, government can confiscate, secretly and unobserved, an important part of the wealth of their citizens.”
Marxists know that poor, hungry people are easy to control. A central bank digital currency (CBDC) is the next stage in this economic war, where every transaction can be traced, green spending can be enforced, and those who disagree with the latest creed of woke ideology (or refuse their updated mRNA booster) can be financially canceled. Think Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s treatment of Canada’s Freedom Convoy just over a year ago.
Health
In another Epoch Times article, The Raw Egg Nationalist notes that the sickening of the American populace over the past 100 years greatly benefits “the corporations, the medical regime, and the government.” Over 100 years ago, modern medicine was hijacked, doctors were taught that a prescription or pill could cure every malady, and medicine shifted toward treating symptoms and selling medications. During COVID-19, elites rejected inexpensive, proven, life-saving protocols and forced expensive, deadly treatments on the vulnerable.
Technology
The technology exists to make “Brave New World” and “1984” a reality. New York City is turning its police cruisers into 360-degree surveillance vehicles. Several European cities, including Paris, France, and Oxford, England, intend to become 15-minute cities with high surveillance and restriction of movement. Earlier this year, Brazil’s police planned to use facial recognition technology to identify protesters. Surveillance technology linked with a CBDC, vaccine passports, and digital ID would create a complete digital prison.
The last three years have proven that global elites are fast moving us toward a total slave state. Fifth-generation warfare is a powerful tool being used to subdue all opposition to this global socialist “utopia.” Everyone knows it’s happening. But few, very few, recognize it as warfare.
We can’t hope to beat the enemies of freedom until we understand them and their strategies. We must say no to every proposal they make, every deceitful scheme they present, and every lie they tell. We must educate others, reject the comfort of inaction, and create parallel societies in every area of life.
Our strategy should be six-fold: study, educate, organize, prepare, act, and pray. Once enough people awaken to fifth-generation warfare, the strategy becomes ineffective. To quote Sun Tzu, “If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.”
Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.