Thread by @ThyConsigliori

John Minford, #SunTzu 7: 19 "Plunder the countryside, and divide the spoil."

This verse, and tomorrow's, can quite rightly be called the pirate verses! Argh. Funny thing, few people today have read much pirate history, and do not know the function it played in creating American democracy. A pirate ship was a pure democracy.

It was also a military dictatorship, and a feudal realm built on trust, honor and the sacred duty of pledge, of fealty, one's word. Once a captain was empowered, his word was law. To disobey was to face the cat-o-nine tails, a special type of whip, or death.

Yet, upon the end of one captain's reign, it was the ships pure vote that determined who the next captain would be. There's more. The deal of plunder was sacred. Once negotiated with the crew, only the most foolish of captains would ever break the deal. He'd die. Quickly.

We all carry a pirate within our ancient souls, looking forward to plunder and spoil, and knowing that to the victor go the spoils. Master Sun is far more comfortable with all that than we are. Yet, you may be sure, there's no getting around it. To the victor DO go the spoils.

This is more than just greed, though. Imagine yourself a Northern soldier in 1864, fighting to free the slaves. When you raid a Southern Plantation and confiscate the food, will you feel guilty? Not a chance. When conquering, you feed your soldiers with plunder.

Have you caught Master Sun's hint here? He wants you to reread chapter one and find the verse (I'll share it in a moment) where he discusses these economics. He's always doing that. Back and back we go again. Go look before I tell you that it is...

Verse 1: 14.

"So a wise general feeds his army off the enemy. One peck of enemy provisions is worthy twenty carried from home; one picul of enemy fodder is worth twenty carried from home."

Just 8 verse ago in 7: 11, Master Sun taught us: "Without its equipment, an army is lost; without its provisions, an army is lost; without its stores, an army is lost." He meant what he said! Contemplate again that 20-to-1 ratio of value. Local food $1. Food from home, $20.

There is such a thing as soul food. We won't discuss its true reality, that a poor Yankee boy like me can never claim to fully comprehend. It is a thing of the South, and of my black brothers and sisters. They love me. But they laugh at me. I ain't got that kind of soul.

They roll on the floor laughing at me when I use the word "ain't." I can't say it properly. Yet, they and I are bonded at soul over the reality of soul itself. I know how to find and consume the food my true soul most truly needs, to be ready to fight the fight.

Just on topic, I never get the handshake right, and I can't dance or jump either. So, what I just do is hug. As an Italian, I am qualified to hug. I do it well. Back to the soul's sustenance. I could never have dreamed that it would be, of all things, @realDonaldTrump's message.

The soul food of #MAGA changed my life as no other political movement ever did before, or could have. It's honest. It's real. It's historically grounded. Check out my book length explication:

amazon.com/America-First-…

What is the soul's true food? It is that which your mind's intellect, your heart's emotions and your life's destiny path. Can you imagine an America with a 100% secure Southern Boundary? Do you have any idea the economic benefit to every low paid American citizen?

For the spiritual nutrition to be digested and absorbed into your soul, it must first be processed by mind and heart. It must be able to stimulate imagination and passion. When you consider @realDonaldTrump's 10 #MAGA tenets, that's your challenge, mind, heart, soul.

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

We'll discuss the plunder and divide the spoil again, tomorrow, in our second pirate verse. For today, imagine any of the 10 tenets above completed. Follow its logic. Feel its emotion. Allow it to feed your soul.

172 verses completed, 250 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.