Thread by @ThyConsigliori

John Minford, #SunTzu 8: 27 {The 5th of 5 pitfalls for a general is} "A concern for his men, leading to trouble."

Before I begin to comment on today's verse directly, allow me to share the way my "kit" has evolved so far. My two most important translators remain Minford, of course, and Giles. But Roger Ames' translation has catapulted in importance for me. And...

My least used, but still very helpful translation is by Samuel Griffiths. Additionally, I have a paper version of Minford that I constantly mark up, a paper version of Giles that I mark up less, but do when I need to, and hard cover versions of both for the full commentaries.

Oh, I forgot Ralph Sawyer's version! There's a story. Giles was my first translation, without any of the commentary. Sawyer was my second, and his analysis remains one of the great sources of inspiration, but I don't use him enough. I'm going to use him more!

In short, here's my list:

1) Minford - paperback
2) Minford - hard cover
3) Giles - paperback
4) Giles - hard cover
5) Ames
6) Sawyer
7) Griffiths

If we really were a college course, I'd have sufficient copies of all 7 books available in the bookstore, and I'd require all students in my class to have all 7. Which is to say, you need a small section of your home library dedicated to Master Sun, and you want these books!

Why all this background, before today's commentary? I'd never be able to unpack today's strange message without the "kit" I employ. What's more, I'll soon be quoting Lionel Giles' comments on this verse in an extensive quote. I'll finish my sermon on texts, first.

We're dealing with an ancient text here. What's more, it is the one and only text on the topic of warfare that has risen over the millennia to the height of most revered text of all. 5 translators is a small number. I'm NOT listing out all the ones I have, but don't use much.

As we're about to see, this little verse requires serious logic to follow out. Giles' comments on this verse unpack it to perfection. What if I didn't have a copy of his full comments? Or of Minford's hard copy, where he quotes them? I'd never attain clarity on this verse.

So, without further ado, here are Giles' comments:

"Here again, Sun Tzu does not mean that the general is to be careless of the welfare of his troops. All he wishes to emphasize is the danger of sacrificing any important military advantage to the immediate comfort of his men.

"This is a shortsighted policy, because in the long run the troops will suffer more from the defeat, or, at best, the prolongation of the war, which will be the consequence. A mistaken feeling of pity will often induce a general to relieve a beleaguered city, or...

"to reinforce a hard-pressed detachment, contrary to his military instincts." Giles continues on to discuss cases from the Boer War a bit too detailed for our purposes. Suffice it to say that pity for soldiers can lead to tremendous destruction. Let's get to the bottom of that.

The part over the whole. That's the error of caring more for one's soldiers than one cares for the mission. A soldier is an important being, a human and a soul unto himself. Yet, when it comes to war, he is but a part of the mission. The mission must come before the soldier.

This is the lie of Socialism. It speaks to each part, each person, as if he were the entire focus of society, of government. It allures him with the emotion that we're here for you. Yet, the truth is the precise opposite. In Socialism the individual plummets to the bottom.

In a free society, the individual's rights to life, liberty, property, and the pursuit of happiness are the highest values. This is the opposite of the military. In the military, the mission is always more important than the individual. We may call this the Dichotomy of Freedom.

It is the soldier who creates the individual's rights of freedom. Attacking and invading enemies will always show up on the shores of a free society where wealth is built. They come to steal the wealth. It's very simple. Freedom builds wealth. Soldiers create freedom.

Soldiers face outward. Freedom is inward. A general, facing the enemy, must think of the nation he protects. He must be ready to sacrifice soldiers in that mission. Soldiers are not free. They are burdened by the mission. The people they protect are free, by their sacrifice.

Think about it. We are a people of some 350 million. Our soldiers are less than 2 million. That means 1 soldier protects 175,000 people. We never want to lose even a single soldier, yet we must never forget the 175,000 whose freedom rides on that soldier's shoulders.

A general must be ready to ask his soldiers to die, should they need to, for the mission. Master Sun's warning applies to every general that, through natural love of his soldiers, forgets his actual mission. The love his soldiers give him comes from Master Sun's counsel as well.

A general, in order to deserve the love of his soldiers, must always seek a way of victory that bloodies no sword, and slays no person. Where blood must be spilt, less is better than more. Master Sun gives us every principle of leadership required.

Silly, silly me. CORRECTION! 350,000,000 divided by 2,000,000 = 175. 1 soldier protects, in our nation, roughly 175 people. I sure wish I was better at calculations, and made fewer errors.

The ultimate question of military leadership is this. How do I protect 175 people with each soldier, while NOT costing his death? If the soldier knows that question was asked and answered with his best interest in mind, he'll be ready to make the ultimate sacrifice in trust.

Let's conclude, today, by considering the freedom of those we protect with our votes. Should we allow Socialism to rise without our politics, our freedoms will be lost. How important is the vote?

And when we face our children, raised in an education system that puts Socialism forward as the answer, what must we be ready to sacrifice? The great answer is time. The second answer is conversation. We must allure our youth into a new conversation.

We've failed, as a society, against Master Sun's counsel. We've allowed our fears for our children's emotions to blind us to their needs. We are over-solicitous. It is time to face the truth, and earn the freedoms our soldiers give us.

226 verses completed, 196 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.