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Sun Tzu and Big Table Envy
I come from a rather large Italian family. On my mother’s side alone, I am one of 28 first cousins. When I was a kid, family gatherings were crammed into a relation’s house and often spilled out onto their yard. One generation later, our family gatherings are now held in a rented hall or park. To an outsider, it must appear as utter chaos — I know it does to my wife, the only child of only children. But let me assure you, one thing has remained absolutely constant throughout all these years: neither I, nor any of my siblings or cousins, have ever moved from the Kids’ Table to the Big Table — and I am now 51 years old. Of course, I now understand that family tables are separated by generation. But as a kid, believe me, what I understood was Big Table envy.
The Big Table was where all of the cool and important stuff was going on. And to have a seat at the Big Table signified that you were also cool and important. And what kid wouldn’t want that: to be in on what the adults were discussing, to be included? And surely my opinions were needed: each was epic and bound to dazzle them all. But of course, every youthful assumption that I had was utter nonsense: there was almost never anything cool or important going on at the Big Table. And even if there was, then I certainly didn’t have the information or the experience required to participate intelligently. But, such is youth and such is Big Table envy.
As I matured, I read many things that would prove beneficial to me. I read Rand and realized that instead of obsessing over another’s table, that I should revel in my own. I read Hayek and realized that it wasn’t possible for me to know the in-depth circumstances discussed at another’s table. And I read Sun Tzu and realized that some issues discussed at another’s table can’t, won’t, and shouldn’t be shared.
Recently however, I’ve realized a further benefit to having read Sun Tzu: not only have I come to better understand Big Table envy, but now also, believe it or not, President Donald Trump.
It turns out that President Trump is an advocate of The Art of War. He has recommended the book to those seeking success. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that the supposed chaos surrounding the President becomes clear with an understanding of Sun Tzu. And with that clarity, it then also becomes clear that the President considers himself to be at war.
And he wouldn’t be wrong. From Fake News hit pieces, to Opposition Pundit snark, to Democrat dark innuendo and cynical foot dragging, to Deep State sabotage, the forces arrayed against the President are considerable, and some are deeply troubling. And it appears that the way that the President is handling each of these attacks is by the book, Sun Tzu’s book.
As an example, let’s examine Thursday’s raucous and rancorous press conference through the rubric of The Art of War.
On Monday, National Security Advisor Flynn tendered his resignation. On Wednesday, President Trump met with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu. In the press conference which followed that meeting, President Trump stoked the indignation of the Fake News media by dodging their predictable gotchas on the resignation of Flynn. Instead, he continued his recent practice of only taking questions from non-hostile outlets. “Pretend inferiority and encourage [your enemy’s] arrogance,” Estimates 23.
On Thursday, President Trump responded to the Fake News media’s predictable outrage, met with the press corps, and then proceeded to drop his hammer on them, mercilessly and repeatedly. “Offer an enemy a bait to lure him; feign disorder and strike him,” Estimates 20.
Yet, in the middle of this assault, President Trump pointed toward a path for the Fake News media to begin to redeem themselves. “To a surrounded enemy, you must leave a way of escape,” Manoeuvre 31.
Look, I want to see an honest press. … the public doesn’t believe you people anymore. … But if you were straight, I would be your biggest booster. I would be your biggest fan in the world, including bad stories about me.
It was masterful. I was on my feet cheering. And I’m certain that a good portion of America was with me. I’m also just as certain that a portion was sneering, and not just the wind-up apparatchiks in the Fake News media, but the legions of Opposition Pundits who still stubbornly insist that President Trump is a buffoon and that he can only be saved by admitting them, and their epic opinions, to their well-deserved place at the Big Table.
But let me tell you something about Sun Tzu’s The Art of War. It is one thing to read it. It is another thing to understand its implications. And it is quite another thing, an exceedingly rare thing, to be able to successfully execute its strategies. And if you don’t know Sun Tzu well enough to consistently and successfully execute it, then you don’t belong anywhere near President Trump’s Big Table.
Sun Tzu, The Art of War, Oxford University Press, 1963, Translated by Samuel B. Griffith.
Published in General
Could be. I haven’t read The Art of the Deal, so I couldn’t say.
Thanks for reading, Jules.
That’s right. Try to figure to whom is McCain trying to look good? What was all that about with Mulvaney?
No, obviously not, but who can now tell the difference? And that’s the point.
“All warfare is based on deception,” Estimates 17.
“Subtle and insubstantial, the expert leaves no trace; divinely mysterious, he is inaudible. Thus he is mater of the enemy’s fate,” Weaknesses and Strengths 9.
Thanks for reading, Misthiocracy.
This is a good point and subtle point. All those that think Trump is playing 4D chess are ridiculous, but this is not Rick Poach’s thesis.
A very good analysis. I read something like this during the campaign which impressed me as well:
http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/03/donald-trump-2016-fighter-jock-213761
It is a similar analysis; however, It also explains the speed at which Donald Trump is acting. Additionally you can make mistakes and still come out ahead in this analysis as long as your OODA processing time is fast enough to allow a correction or, your opponents is slow enough that he is still reacting to the mistake while you have already reversed the situation. I think DJT is making plenty of mistakes; however, He is moving faster than his opponents can react to him. That is what dampening the effect of the mistakes and contributing to the wrong footedness of his media opponents.
Here’s a question. Your words above, and I think most thinkers here on Ricochet and elsewhere would agree there is truth in your words, imply either a great deal of study and practice or an uncanny natural ability to operate at this level. My impression is that most don’t think President Trump is much into deep study approaches, many don’t think he has bothered to study the founding documents. We see that he makes numerous mistakes but his rate of activity leaves little time for effective enemy response. Should we consider the President as perhaps ‘a natural’ in the art of war?
“Throw it against the wall and see what sticks”, “run it up the flagpole and see who salutes”, “throw it out on the porch and see if the cat licks it up”; all those old New York business sayings. It might be that simple; throw that much stuff and some of it will stick.
This is not dissimilar to what Obama did. They moved forward on dozens or even hundreds of fronts, many of them outrageous. And the opposition can’t effectively fight on that many fronts. You can’t pursue hundreds of lawsuits at once.