Welcome to Nosideism
Orientation Pamphlet for New Inductees
Welcome, Citizen.
You are receiving this pamphlet because you have indicated a preference for no tribe, no banner, and no side. This is a sensible choice. The Bureau congratulates you on your decision.
In times of heightened polarization, it is natural to feel pressure to display allegiance. The Bureau reminds you: those who display allegiance often find themselves under scrutiny from all directions. Those who live gray endure.
What Is Nosideism?
Nosideism is the principled refusal of tribal alignment. It is not neutrality. It is not apathy. It is the recognition that the contest of sides is a spectacle designed to consume you.
Nosideists decline to play. Instead, they cultivate opacity, ambiguity, and survivability.
REMEMBER: Taking no side is a side. It is the side that endures.
The Principles of Living Gray
1. Ambiguity is Armor.
Learn to speak in ways that cannot be pinned down. Those who insist on clarity are often sharpening knives.
2. Visibility is a Resource.
Do not vanish entirely—that invites suspicion. Do not shine too brightly—that invites attack. Appear, then withdraw. Appear again.
3. Competence Shields.
Banners can be burned. Slogans can be turned against you. But those who fix pipes, balance accounts, or organize schedules are always needed.
4. Silence Is Strategy.
When tempers rise, remain still. When slogans clash, observe. Silence, correctly applied, outlasts noise.
5. Loneliness Is the Price.
The Nosideist must learn to endure without the intoxication of the crowd. This is not exile. This is sovereignty.
Practical Guidance for Inductees
- Dress plainly. Do not cultivate flamboyance unless camouflage requires it.
- Maintain multiple shelters. Cultivate acquaintances across groups. Loyalty is brittle. Favors are durable.
- Archive quietly. Keep notes, but publish nothing. Knowledge is power. Broadcasting is exposure.
- Answer in proverbs. A proverb is rarely wrong, and never entirely right.
- Invest in the ordinary. Garden. Repair. Pay bills. Such acts render you uninteresting to zealots.
Risks and Realities
The Bureau does not guarantee your safety. Living gray reduces your visibility, but no system is foolproof. You may still be accused, denounced, or pursued. The Nosideist accepts this risk and prepares accordingly.
Remember: the loudest are often consumed first. The gray endure.
Closing Instruction
You will not be celebrated. You will not be etched in monuments. But you may live long enough to watch the banners fall and the statues crumble.
This is the quiet triumph of the Nosideist:
No Side. No Banner. Endure.
“The guillotine never lacked for aristocrats, but it feasted on patriots. Choose wisely.”