Posted on 05/17/2009 1:15:50 PM PDT by radar101
You would be surprised to see how quickly the rest of the concubines wise up and start to follow orders once this is done.
“If the instructions are not clear, if the orders are not obeyed, it is the fault of the general. But if the instructions are clear and the soldiers still do not obey, it is the fault of their officers.” – Sun Tzu
Whether or not Sun Tzu was the greatest military mind of all time in and of himself is debatable. But he did do something very important. He took up all the lessons from those that came before him concerning how to win a war and brought them under one tent, codified them and followed them. To the casual observer and those more concerned with the feelings of their enemy or breaking a nail, Sun Tzu seems like a very cruel man. He killed a lot of people with the troops he commanded. To those that understand the deeper lessons of his work however, there is a great deal to be learned about how to reach any objective by studying what he taught.
One of the best, and I believe most fundamental, lessons of Sun Tzu is the story of the King's concubines.
King Ho-lú wanted a demonstration of Sun Tzu’s theories in action to see their effectiveness. So the King’s concubines, some 300 women, were summoned and divided into two companies. He placed one of the King’s two favorite concubines in charge of each and gave the women armor and weapons while explaining a set of drills he wished them to perform.
After he had shown them what he wished to be done he then ordered the King’s favorite concubines to lead their companies in performing the maneuvers. This almost predictably led to laughs from the concubines who did not believe him to be serious. They were, after all, not warriors. Sun Tzu then repeated his orders but again the concubines laughed and failed to heed.
This is when he uttered the quote at the beginning of this article, summoned the executioner and had the King’s favorite concubines beheaded. Perhaps Sun Tzu would have lost his own head as well due to an angry King Ho-lú except for the predictable result that ensued. Sun Tzu brought forth two more concubines, placed one in charge of each company and then he again ordered the drill completed. This time the remaining concubines performed the exercise flawlessly.
Sun Tzu’s orders were clear. The fault was with those that were entrusted to carry out those commands. When that fault was remedied everything worked like it was supposed to.
There is a modern day parallel that can be drawn from all this as well and it has nothing to do with commanding a military. That is the beauty of Sun Tzu. The “Art of War” that he codified is able to be adapted to any situation with a goal.
Right now in America we have the Republican Party as it sadly exists; a chattering mass of concubines who have come to believe that they are favorites of some higher authority and they will have no harm ever come to them. The problem is that we, the people, who are the real authority behind the Party are not at all amused. We have given them power. We have given them arms. We have even given them orders. But still they sit there and giggle at us as though those orders are not at all important.
We tell them to lower taxes and they giggle. We tell them to reduce the size of government and they giggle some more. We tell them to stand up for innocent human life no matter the age and they laugh out loud. We tell them to return to within the boundaries set up for them by the Constitution and they flip us the bird while mocking us openly. So the answer is obvious to anyone that has ever read Sun Tzu. The axe needs to be sharpened. The heads of the lead concubines must be lowered onto the chopping block. And these fools need to be released from their duties and obligations. It is time to behead those giddy concubines who are in charge and who are not willing to carry out the clear orders given to them.
You would be surprised to see how quickly the rest of the concubines wise up and start to follow orders once this is done.
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J.J. Jackson is a libertarian conservative author from Pittsburgh, PA who has been writing and promoting individual liberty since 1993 and is President of Land of the Free Studios, Inc. His weekly commentary along with exclusives not available anywhere else can be found at http://www.libertyreborn.com
Pretty neat article,thanks!
Good post.
This is a question of how does one bell the cat that bedeviled the mice. How does one go about implementing Sun Tzu’s solution on the corcubines in this environment.
It would be most effective if we took his example literally...
just kidding?
should be copied and mailed to EVERY one of the supposed leaders of the GOP. Their little feeling might get hurt and feel threatened. They should.
Lets start a list of the RINO’s who need to ‘retire’
Senate
1) Graham SC
2) Collins ME
3) Snow ME
4) McCain AZ
Most excellent article. There’s going to be a lot of stunned establishment RINO weasels after the primaries for the 2010 election. I know that my voting ax is ready. Hopefully, firing all those RINOs and dems won’t raise the unemployement rate TOO much.
Can we start with Lindsey Graham?
Brilliant analogy! Thanks for posting.
The problem is that the RINOS think they are in charge. The concubines never thought that, they were just used to being silly women who were pampered - you know like McCain, Graham and the rest of the RINOs that think they have the moral high ground. SZ was genius and should be required reading for all who wish to succeed in life. Not only the Art of War but his actually conquests where he outsmarted and beat the stronger armies of Chu. I believe Petreaus is a follower of SZ. The surge was based upon SZ’s principles.
What we have is a failure to communicate!
Sorry for any double pings.
Can anyone think of any other options?
As these rinos get into their primaries, someone from their districts post who thier opponants are and circulate this through Free Republic. Nationalize the rino races and give your support for senators/reps who are not go along to get along types. I am still angry about mclame on how he ran his campaign. HE KNEW who nobama was and never pushed the issue. Sarah Palin was much more of a fighter that mcwhatever thought he was. Since the only party we have that halfway agrees with us won’t get off their collective asses and nationalize these races, we need to do this. Purge the rinos. They don’t represent us, they represent themselves and their fat salaries, perks, healthcare, retirement and stature. We don’t have any of those trappings but are left paying the bills. HEY RINOS! Guess what, we are funding YOU. And we are real tired of getting nothing for our tax money but condecending talk and bipartisianship with the dim party. The dims want to destroy this country. QUIT helping them.
I like this. It is a precise description of what has been going on.
After posting this, I decided that I will post what I can find out about these pretend repub when the time comes. Normally I don’t depend on others so what the hell, here it comes rinos. I will not post anything but the truth and you may not like it, but excrement happens. I DON’T GIVE A RATS ASS WHAT YOUR PREVIOUS LIFE WAS, I CARE ABOUT IF YOU ARE REPRESENTING US OR YOURSELF. McWho, you have really dissapointed all of us. Consider yourself to be in the same camp as Sen. John Glenn. Self serving politicians.
It's on my list of essential works for Conservative candidates and politicians.
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