Thread by @ThyConsigliori

John Minford, #SunTzu 7: 12 "Without knowing the plans of the feudal lords, you cannot form alliances."

You can always tell I really like a verse when I whip out my Giles translation and include it! Today's verse is one I've been looking forward to, and Giles slight difference in expression is absolutely helpful. Here it is, below...

Lionel Giles, #SunTzu 7: 12 "We cannot enter into alliances until we are acquainted with the designs of our neighbors."

Actually, consider how dramatically different their choice of terms is here: Minford uses 'feudal lords'; Giles calls them 'neighbors.' There's clearly a story here. Let's suss it out!

First, in Giles' time - the turn of the 19th into the 20th century - the word "feudal" did NOT have a negative connotation. It was simply a later era's name for a previous one, and a description of a type of social organization based on pledges and hierarchy of persons.

In fact, you may rightly argue that our very own beloved Declaration of Independence is what put paid to feudalism once and for all. All men created equal is essentially the exact opposite of feudal hierarchy. We don't need no kings, either!

In the roughly 100 years separating Giles and Minford, a new academic industry has arisen called Medieval Studies. My theory is that Minford is both aware of and influenced by this. In Medieval Studies, feudalism is bad. Not merely different. Not even merely wrong. Just bad.

You'll laugh at me. It took me over 20 years to figure out why I HATE Medieval Studies. It kind of breaks my brain, really. I LOVE medieval times. I fight with perfect replicas of medieval swords. Yet, I could DETEST Medieval Studies more. What a conundrum.

And the answer is Marx and Engels and their historical dialectic. Yep. It's all there in the Communist Manifesto. I study the plans of my enemies, as should you. Medieval Studies, in universities, is essentially driven by communist historical dogma. That's why I hate it.

Here's my beef with Minford on the choice of the term feudal lords. Why not just call them warlords? Or enemies? Why bring in feudalism? I also don't approve of calling something in ancient China by the same name as we have in European history. Let's not impose our thing on them.

Now let's turn to Giles. We can't build alliances if we don't know our neighbors' various plans. Whose plans align with our own interests? Whose do not? We must know. Some neighbors are friends. Some are enemies. Can you see it? It's a MUCH better choice in translation.

I don't know if it's ever been laid down as a simple principle, anywhere, that:

Neighbors are EITHER friends or enemies.

If not, we really do need this principle. I don't know how, exactly, our modern world has come to deny the existence of enemies, but it most surely has.

I've shared this before and will again. It is my own simple concept map of 4 ancient laws:

1) The Friend of my Friend is my Friend
2) The Enemy of my Friend is my Enemy
3) The Friend of my Enemy is my Enemy
4) The Enemy of my Enemy is my Friend

It cannot be stated too strongly that you must memorize that map. It cannot be stated too strongly that you need that map in order to suss out the meaning of today's verse. It is hidden there inside the one word "alliance." In making alliances, you must know friend from enemy.

There's also a bit more history to bring to bear. Who invented political science? Most who have any idea at all credit Machiavelli, the sainted Machiavelli. He's so worthy. Alas. It isn't true. It only misses by about 4,000 years. It was the ancient Indians who created the art.

Here's the basis. Imagine three countries called A, B & C. B shares borders with A and C, on either side. Who are the natural friends, and who the natural enemies? A & C are natural friends. They want some (or all) of B's land. And, if they unite, B has a two-front war to fight.

As long as B survives, A and C will be friends. But, if they ever wipe B out, then, their friendship will convert to enmity, since now they have to decide who gets what, and where the new border is, and they then will want some of each other's territory. War is coming.

Perhaps all the big boys knew all this back then, but as far as we know, it was the Indians who put all this together 4,500 years ago. In case you're interested, around 300 BC - same time as Euclid! - and possibly influenced by Master Sun, there was guy named Kautilya.

He was an absolutely historical character, meaning we know he lived and who he was. And he wrote a book that no one suspects wasn't written by him, called The Arthashastra, collecting and organizing all this wisdom that was already 2,000 years old, in his time.

To finish up the book list on topic, here are my big four:

1) Art of War - Minford
2) Arthashastra - no good translation I've yet found
3) Bhagavad Gita - Barbara Stoler Miller
4) The Prince - Machiavelli, any translation is fine, none are great

Enough history! Let's talk about the absolutely natural friendship of Nancy Pelosi and @realDonaldTrump. AOC is country B. She is radical socialism, millennial hipster, a media darling and a total, blithering idiot. And she is Nancy's WORST nightmare.

Nancy has enough power - friendships - to stave off any attack AOC might make against her. But, the fact that so many of her caucus follow AOC's leads is breaking Nancy's not-too-agile brain. Oh, what to do? Reach out to The Donald and make requests? Like, no ICE arrests?

The Donald is country A, AOC is country B, Nancy is country C. Nancy and @POTUS are natural friends. They can't act that way. But their interests are completely aligned. Let's go again.

Adam Schiff wants to impeach Trump. Elijah Cummings wants to impeach Trump. Let's call Adam/Elijah the impeachment camp. Together, they form yet another country B. Nancy and Trump are again natural friends on opposite sides of the impeachment camp. There will be no impeachment.

Let's conclude by looking at the term "alliance" again. Also, in addition to the friends and enemies analysis called for, is the question of plans or designs, intentions. To enter into an alliance with someone whose intentions are counter to your own is idiocy.

Modern China. They are both our worst enemy and our neediest friend. But, we have been - until Trump - building them up as our enemy and weakening the potential for friendship. When will we learn? When people want to defeat you, they're not friends. @POTUS gets this 100% right.

What you must do, in order to shut down the enemy and build up the friend, is offer that which is irresistible (an offer they can't refuse) and price the benefit at cost of honest friendship, destroying actual enmity. Friends must prove themselves as friends. In action.

Without knowing both your friends' and your enemies' plans, you cannot build proper alliances. And, there is no victory in this world without alliances.

166 verses completed, 256 to go.

To return to previous sections in our #WarForAmerica2020 and #SunTzuForMAGA series, don't forget to head over to @WarForAmerica21. You'll find the digital table of contents for this series, there. Please retweet each entry you enjoy.