Thread by @ThyConsigliori

John Minford, #SunTzu 6: 1 "Master Sun said: First on the battlefield waits for the enemy fresh."

Were you taught that, when meeting someone in person, anything after 5 minutes is late? Were you taught to show up at your martial arts training session 15 minutes early to change, and to sweep the floor before class begins?

Once, when I was running my first business enterprise, a beloved employee told me how his boss one day got to the office early and was sitting at his desk when he walked in, heart falling to his gut. When I had to fire him, I did the same thing.

Battlefield presence is a type of extraordinary punctuality. As Master Sun teaches us, you must get there first. But he doesn't stop there. His word is "fresh." How many layers, how many depths does that one word, "fresh," convey? We know one of them. You must have already won.

As we so often do, dive deeper with me. What does it mean to be "fresh" on the battlefield? We already identified having won already. And we know that means time in the temple, calculating. Comparing each side's Way, Heaven, Earth, Command and Discipline.

There's an emotion here. When you look into the smiling eyes of an enemy who has already defeated you, your heart wilts. Your will melts. Your battle fury fades. Your confidence grows instantly stale, like weeds sprayed with weed killer. You feel the overwhelming force of defeat.

That emotion is a vortex. It pulls you in and sucks you down. You arrive at the battlefield second, your enemy in high, strong position smiling at you, savoring his victory already won. I can assure you, I know this emotion, having suffered so many defeats in my life.

As a self-employed salesman, I have so often needed, desperately needed to close the sale that my prospect knew. It was obvious. He was strong. I was weak. He had cash. I had need. He was fresh. I was stale. Guess what. I got no increase in fees on those days.

Ah, but let me count the doublings. Starting out at $20 per hour, I soon went to $40. From there to $90. From there to one of my most favorite hourly rates ever, $145. My rates are, well, a great deal higher now. And in each rate hike, I had to show up on the field first, fresh.

Are you an employee? Do you know how to win a raise? If not, read Master Sun's guidance carefully. To show up first on the battlefield, fresh, you need to have shown your capabilities to be superior to the current level of pay. You need to have options, be able to quit.

Fresh, in this case, means knowing your employer's need, and knowing your own ability to provide it. It also means knowing your value on the open market and your courage to resign. It means knowing your price; what do you require? All of that is there, inside the word "fresh."

Let's turn to @POTUS. There are five nations, right now, fighting viciously with America. China, North Korea, Russia, Iran, Mexico. In each case, he has led America to the battlefield of global strategy, first, fresh. China's economy is 100% dependent on America's submission.

China has enjoyed our swamp's willingness to rip us off through our tax code and our trade deals, corruptly rewarding those creatures who passed the laws and negotiated the deals in their advantage. @realDonaldTrump is removing their advantage.

So also, with Mexico and NAFTA. The leaders of America sold us a bill of goods, while getting paid greatly at our expense. No more. North Korea thinks it can bamboozle us again with promises of future disarmament, gaining immediate economic relief. Not this time.

From cash payments to a free pass to nuclear weapons, Iran laughed at America under Obama. They still laugh at us in Iraq. We fight, they win. How delightful for them. Yet, the sanctions hurt, and the oil strategy stymies them. Who arrived fresh on that battlefield?

Russia seeks a landhold in Venezuela, for its missiles pointed at the US. Russia seeks hegemony in the Middle East. @POTUS arrived on that battlefield first, fresh, and will NEVER let them take the higher ground.

It would be fun to return yet again to the Republican Primaries and debates, where @realDonaldTrump was always first on the battlefield, fresh, but there's no need. You get the idea.

If I have a single attack - I don't, I have many - against those of us fighting for America's destiny, it is that we so often fail to show up on the battlefield first, fresh. Hell, we so often fail to show up at all. You, MAGA parent; when was the last school board meeting?

Bright eyed and bushy tailed, fresh, we must from here on out forever, obey Master Sun. How can you possibly disagree?

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

111 verses completed, 311 to go. And also, be sure to purchase John Minford's translation, here:

amazon.com/Art-War-Pengui…

The local MAGA leader’s library needs three other books. The first is by my great friend, hero, and today’s greatest constitutional scholar, @shestokas. His most important work so far is:

amazon.com/Creating-Decla…

The second is available free. It is the combined Declaration of Independence and Constitution.

uscis.gov/sites/default/…

Last is my own book. I'll give you the link here, and then conclude with its ten MAGA principles:

amazon.com/America-First-…

1. Remember The Forgotten Americans
2. Rule Of Law
3. American Jobs
4. Quality Of Life For Every American
5. Heal Our Cities
6. Build The Wall
7. Make America Wealthy Again
8. Make America Strong Again
9. Make America Safe Again
10. Make America Great Again