One of the most effective forms of industrial or military sabotage limits itself to damage that can never be thoroughly proven - or even proven at all - to be anything deliberate. It is like an invisible political movement; perhaps it isn't there at all. If a bomb is wired to a car's ignition, then obviously there is an enemy; if public building or a political headquarters is blown up, then there is a political enemy. But if an accident, or a series of accidents, occurs, if equipment merely fails to function, if it appears faulty, especially in a slow fashion, over a period of natural time, with numerous small failures and misfirings- then the victim, whether a person or a party or a country, can never marshal itself to defend itself.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- The most effective sabotage causes damage through unprovable accidents, leaving victims unable to defend against an invisible enemy.
- In plain terms
- Hidden sabotage works by causing unprovable accidents.
- What can you take from it?
- Unprovable harm is hard to defend against.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- How do you prove intent in accidents?
- Can you defend against invisible enemies?
Another view
It assumes all failures are intentional, which may not be true.
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