Focussing on the recent developments in strategic soft power, CARPA is just launching operation Crust Crusade along the US west coast. The project aims to employ the popular subculture of crust punk to leverage the agenda of US-controlled capitalism under the cloak of aesthetic dissent and rebellion. Using western contractors, each with an agenda of domination within their markets, the DoD employs lifestyle infiltration to produce pro-NATO sentiments amongst dissident youth groups in the middle-east and former Soviet republics.
“We need a new sustainable paradigm to stay ahead of the moving targets of lifestyle,” said Sandra Svenson, CARPA designer and program manager. “With Crust Crusade, the goal is to develop new viral consumer practices that are effective against a broad spectrum of adversarial ideologies, to make sure our style supremacy co-evolves and outpace reactionary elements.” As demonstrated by Svenson, such practices employ a wide range of disseminated DIY activities, not least the famous pro-american crust pants.