paraphrase Sun Tzu's *The Art of War* in political terms that advance the cause
of the Left.
There's precedent for such an undertaking. Gramsci's commentary on
Machievelli's *The Prince* was essentially a coded guide for Communists to
follow in the course of the class struggle. Of course he wrote it in such a
way to get it past Mussolini's censors, who apparently did not understand the
subversion involved--I guess because Gramsci was writing about an icon of
Italian history. (There is no way of phrasing a program or an idea in such a
way that it cannot be subverted or put to ill use. Grover Norquist, the
anti-tax ideologue who is one of the dominant forces in the Republican Party,
admired Gramsci for his tactics and supposedly has adopted them in his efforts
to bring back the Gilded Era of plutocracy and child labor)
It seems to me that Sun Tzu's *Art of War* is well suited for such exploitation.
A lot of his language can easily be taken as symbolic, at least by a Western
sensibility, and there is also the benefit that in his view the best victories
are those that involve the least (or no) bloodshed.
I believe there are already such books that are adapted for those who want to
pursue success in business.
I don't want to do it myself because 1) I am too lazy and 2) it is too hard.
But somebody ought to try it. Or maybe somebody has already done it. I don't
know.
I do have a few more ideas or suggestions:
One can think of the project as a sort of like Lenin's *What is to be Done*--but
as if it were written by a Taoist, charged with a non-denominational mystical
humanism, an aversion to authoritarianism and a passion--not for secrecy, but
for anonymity. Have the locals name themselves after specific events in the
history of human liberation rather than individual heroes--for instance,
Colorado Miners' Strike of 19__ Memorial Chapter. Or Battle of Harper's
Ferry Memorial Study Group...whatever. The "mystical humanism" so referenced
should be broad enough to accommodate both militant atheists and sympathetic
persons from almost any religious background.
One of the difficulties with Marxism as an inspiring text for action is that its
terms are abstract and, when stated, invite debate. As a tool of analysis and
explanation, Marxism may be adequate for the public sphere of intellectual
discourse, but at the level of persuading people to adopt a certain orientation
toward society, a more poetic presentation is needed.
A model that combines something of AA, the IWW, a Friends meeting and the
Mondragon co-op movement is what I have in mind. An organization that is at
once a source of meaningful committment, a springboard for political action at
several levels, and that serves practical, social and spiritual needs at the
local level... The last time I looked at the IWW Constitution, I remember
thinking that it is almost ideal in its inclusiveness and sensitivity to
individual freedom--but there's a certain ritualism in words like "fellow
worker" and "One Big Union" that somehow ring hollow outside the organization...
I would say that perhaps something could be done with the online social
networking sites, but if we might enter an era where face-to-face contact gets
to be at a premium somehow & that the organization could be a resource for...
Despite invoking AA, IWW, and the Friends, I think there has to be some kind of
parallel channel beyond action based on pure consensus--although it has been
pointed out that consensus does not necessarily mean that everybody has to be
perfectly happy about a decision.
Oh, well. It's just a thought.
