20 November 2024
Surveillance is one thing. It's usually hard to detect unless the operators are sloppy. I ran into that once when Uncle Sam very mistakenly thought I was involved in something I didn't even know about until much later. Because I had law enforcement training, I made it hard on them because of my instinct to resist simply for fun. My location at that time wasn't very conducive to surveillance in the first place. They eventually gave up and left me alone.
Stalking is another thing entirely. Surveillance is meant to catch you doing something that would justify an arrest. Stalking is punitive in itself, trying to drive you crazy. I'm not referring to the kind of stalking you hear about with disgruntled significant others, wannabe lovers, wacko fans of celebrities or thugs preparing to rob/rape/etc. I'm referring to purposeful stalking that is intended to push you over the edge without touching you.
There are some publications out there covering it, mostly from members of a community of victims, or those who tried to help them. A private investigator named Lawson has published a couple of books you can find pretty easily: Terrorist Stalking in America and Cause Stalking. While I find him a little to gullible on some points, his stuff is easier to find, while some of the better stuff is suppressed and hard to find. Better yet, there are reviews and summaries of his books available for free.
Lawson and friends will tell you of a nightmare world of groups ranging from comically incompetent all the way to professionally trained at terrorizing people who have offended someone powerful, or maybe have gotten the attention of some vengeful organization. Some of it is downright inexplicable.
The people exposing this will sound paranoid. That's part of the game. Sometimes all it takes is just a little nudge for someone vulnerable to feel persecuted, and then their tormentors back off and let them stew. The lore is filled with nonsense that can hardly be sorted from the real deal. If you experience it yourself, you'll know it -- unless you are someone like me with precious few vulnerabilities that can be exploited by their methods. You are a very difficult target if you know how to ditch your social inhibitions and use violence.
I've been close to people who experienced this stuff. It's a strange, murky world that is very hard to explain. The whole point of this kind of stalking is to make sure you know they are harassing you, but never quite giving you a good reason to take action (by their estimate). The whole thing hinges on the victim being vulnerable in some way, and leveraging that to the max. One of my friends always carried a firearm and came very close to shooting one his stalkers. Once they realized it, he didn't see them again.
A primary element in this nonsense is for stalkers to avoid crossing the line so that civil police agencies can't justify getting involved to stop the stalking. It's technically illegal in itself, but like a lot of other things, there's not much to gain by enforcing that law. The groups train and are adept at staying below the radar.
Lawson does a decent job of explaining the signatures of this kind of stalking. For example, there's swarming. I'm pretty sure all of us have experienced racial/tribal prejudice from various minority groups acting on training that's meant to put you "in your place". They will crowd around you at some location to deny you access to some public accommodation, when they clearly aren't that interested for themselves. While this is a common tactic in tribal social politics, it's also used in more long-term stalking.
In most cases, acting like I'm a little nutty is enough to stymie their efforts. I've started talking to them as if there was no problem, singing out loud if that felt appropriate, or some other wacky and uninhibited behavior that throws the discomfort back on them. If it's a matter of accessing something I actually need, I've been known get assertive and rude, even threatening. Most of the time it's not worth it.
I must admit a lot of people who think they are being "gangstalked" are delusional. Yet, the real thing is insane. I find that the people who are best at detecting it have a natural talent for it, not a list of reference points to identify it. I'm not sure how much academic studies will do any good. People who are truly harassed this way are nothing like the idiots who populate the Reddit channel about gangstalking for example. Government intel agencies stalk their own people, businesses stalk whistleblowers, and I have encountered a few groups of vigilantes who imagine they are helping the police by stalking certain targeted individuals. How often have you read about cults pursuing former members? There are police reports and lawsuits on the likes of Scientology.
Of course, psychiatrists uniformly call it a delusion in all cases. That's because, for them, everything is a mental condition that requires their expensive expertise and treatment. Meanwhile, psychiatrists have contributed to the techniques of interrogation and torture. They know how to harm, but aren't that good at helping. Their entire discipline is dubious, based on very flawed science.
The key for me is something most writers don't mention on this subject: The ultimate source is not human. If you react as if the whole thing is demonic, you have a better chance of getting through it. If you pay too much attention to the human side of this issue, then you miss opportunities to glorify the Lord. I can't give you my personality, but I can share my faith. God has never failed; I'm the only failure in the calculus here. Often enough, He took care of things despite my mistakes. My mission may generate persecution of all types, but having no concern for this life is a massive advantage.
This document is public domain except for the poem in the comment; spread the message.