Thread by @ThyConsigliori

John Minford, #SunTzu 3:18 "These five [referring to 3:17's five essentials] point the way to victory."

Let's talk about numbers, like 5 - not to mention the number 9 which we'll confront in our next chapter! Who remembers verse 1:2?

Bonus point if you do!

To review:

1) The Way
2) Heaven
3) Earth
4) Command
5) Discipline

Confession: I don't think I've ever simply numbered them that way, and me, with my numbered lists, I'm a bit obsessed, but they help me! For instance, numbers 1 - 4 all flow for me, but there's a break for my mind between 4 & 5...why is that?

Ah, it's that line between leaders and followers, between leadership and followership. Leaders command, and followers are disciplined. But wait! Leadership discipline could have been the title of this book. Hmm, interesting. Oh, I know! Let's go again, you'll see!

5) The Way
4) Heaven
3) Earth
2) Command
1) Discipline

While it's absolutely a Chinese principle to build from the bottom to the top, Rene Descartes teaches the same thing. A smooth flow from front to back, and back to front, seamlessly back and forth.

Command must be disciplined; earth must be commanded; heaven must be lowered to earth; the way must be expressed in the heavens; discipline can only come from the way. We must master our lists of five things - there are many such lists - in both directions. How fun!

It's important to set your base properly, to build a solid foundation, so, be clear, there is NO more important verse in all of Master Sun's work, than verse 1:2. Whenever we blunder into other lists of five things, we'll want to review it again, and deepen our understanding.

What about this small verse, today, though? All it tells us is that victory is in the previous verse's five essentials. Yeah, you knew I was going to give you another list of five things right now, didn't you. I'll offer names for each, you decide if you agree with my names, yes?

The Five Essentials of Victory from verse 3:17 might be named:

1) Battle Timing
2) Numbers Deployment
3) Single Will
4) The Unexpected
5) Capable General

Now, if you map out the Fundamentals against the Essentials (and well done there, Minford, with those two terms!), you could write poems or essays and give power point presentations at the Pentagon with that sort of analysis. Give it a try!

Let's go 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 with these lovely Essentials. The capable general is always ready for the unexpected, and, sharing a single will with his men, can deploy either large or small numbers with flawless timing to fight, or not fight.

That little riff reminded me of this chapter's verse 3:3, and its statement that ultimate excellence lies in defeating the enemy without ever fighting. Can you see how the poem-like nature of Master Sun's work leaves us bread crumbs right while we think we're eating the cake?

There is yet a deeper significance in today's verse. Certainly, as we've seen, it ties directly back to 3:17 and 1:2. Yet, underlying those verses, and in fact our entire endeavor, Master Sun comes back again and again to victory itself. Let's bring in Master Nietzsche on this.

You may not realize that the following wisdom comes directly from
Friedrich Nietzsche, but it does!

"That which does not Kill us, makes us stronger."

Oh, you knew it was from Brother Fred, didn't you?

Defeats are so painful they make us stop believing in victory. I know Brother Fred is famous for his Will to Power, but we might offer him, in addition, a Will to Victory, a Will To Winning. Stronger sounds like being better able to withstand suffering, at it is.

But the real power of the maxim is that, not killed, stronger, you're more likely to win your next victory. And that's what Master Sun is teaching us. Victory can broken down, so easily, into just these Five Essentials. If you have them, you're good, you're going to win.

A vision of victory, broken into easy parts, is NOT something laid out merely for leaders, generals, alone, either. It's absolutely essential for followers, for the men. That's one of the reasons small deployments are so unstoppable. The men are trained in the leader's ways.

Officers and men, leaders and followers, all of them - us - need to know that we're prepared for victory. Sometimes we die, sometimes we lose, but when losing doesn't kill us...we're stronger. What Master Sun wants is for to be smarter, as well. Thus, the Five Essentials.

That's also why Battle Timing, deciding to fight or not fight, is the first Essential. The leader is allowed losses, defeats, as long as the unit was not killed. If the unit dies, the leader is a failure. It happens. Sure, you've heard of Thermopylae, and Leonidas, right?

Just 300 men, in a mountain pass, held off uncountable thousands of enemy troops, ended up all dying, but live eternally in history, saviors of their people. Sure, suicide missions do happen, yet somehow still with forlorn hope, and at any rate, for historic reasons.

Honor though he gives him, Master Sun doesn't think much of Leonidas' strategy. He'd rather he won without fighting and lived to fight, or not fight preferably, another day. Dying old and at home is the goal. And that's what both leaders and men must understand, always.

Didn't die yet? Good. Stronger now? Good. Okay, let's go. Let's win back the House of Representatives for #MAGA in 2020. Let's watch all these ridiculous Republican Senators who vote to censure @realDonaldTrump, against the wall, happy swamp creatures all and primary them out.

Let's stop waiting for the RNC to tell us where to fight and where not to fight. Let's set up teams, Small High-Performance Teams (SHPT) in every voting district. No one's going to die, so we can learn from every defeat, and we shall, but with Master Sun's help, we'll win a lot!

And don't wait for me, either. Get started. If you're a follower, and be proud to be one, find and recruit your leader. I mean it. Obviously, if you're a leader, find and recruit your followers. Select a target, your district, and make sure it votes MAGA in 2020, for all seats.

But, but, but...HOW? I have no idea, and I don't care how. That's going to be different in every district and it's not my problem, it's yours! Ha! Just start out with the simple, honest, humble admission you have no clue how to do it, and get started attacking that problem.

One outstanding starting point, however, is to memorize and work on the Five Essentials. Up and down, back and forth. Don't be shy. Talk about it. Seriously. Write about it. Share your thoughts and emotions, your questions and beliefs, your certainties and uncertainties, all.

Right quick now, but you can look if you need to, what's Essential number 3?

Shared will between officers and men.

How is that built? You talk to each other. A lot. What's your will, you ask? This, I say, what's yours? That, you answer. Okay, now what do we do?

Read. Study. Meet. Talk. Write. Lather, rinse and repeat. Don't worry about how short the time is, we're fighting for more than just the next election. Take your time. But, know with certainty that battle opportunities will arise and you will be ready, you will.

You will know when to fight. A sign from the heavens will indicate advantage on the earth, you will see your way forward and your discipline will ensure victory. Did you see what I did there? Verse 1:2 again, ha!

Once again, don't die. Learn from defeats, while avoiding them as much as possible. Win lots and lots, and always know, whether you're a leader or a proud follower, not only is victory possible, all we need are these Five Essentials and we're there. #MAGAVictory2020...and beyond.

To return to previous sections in our #WarForAmerica2020 and #SunTzuForMAGA series, don't forget to head over to @WarForAmerica21.

59 verses completed, 363 to go.

And also, be sure to purchase John Minford's translation, here:

amazon.com/Art-War-Pengui…