Yes, identifying the true source of corruption—corporate interests and financial manipulation—is crucial. Uniting around shared goals, like tackling political corruption or supporting marijuana legalization, could foster a broad coalition.
However, framing this as a “war” may alienate those weary of political conflict. Many Americans seek solutions, not more division.
A movement grounded in moral high ground—focusing on transparency, accountability, and community betterment—is essential. Inspiring voters to envision a system that serves them, rather than emphasizing conflict, can unite both sides without compromising progressive ideals.
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Just because I don’t like war doesn’t mean I’m not ready to fight.
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If you don’t see this as a war then you’re blinded by wishful thinking. Study your history. Before WWII everyone hoped Hitler would stop and hoped Japan would stop. That all changed when Pearl Harbor happened. The attack on Perl Harbor killed 2,400+ people. This healthcare system kills 26,000 people every year. That’s 10 Pearl Harbors. What are we waiting on? 26,000 and 1? We need to expose this! We need to make it bad business to deny people healthcare. We need to flood the media with our stories of how this healthcare system has killed people through negligence.
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Now back to the material…
CH. 4 Tactical Dispositions
"4.1 Sun Tzu said: The good fighters of old first put themselves beyond the possibility of defeat, and then waited for an opportunity to defeat the enemy.
4.2 To secure ourselves against defeat lies in our own hands, but the opportunity of defeating the enemy is provided by the enemy himself."
One takeaway from this passage is ensuring our activities and communications are impenetrable from a PR and political standpoint. As I mentioned in previous comments, 10 pearl harbors happen every year in our healthcare system, simply because the doctors do not want to treat people who don’t have money. Why do we want Medicare for all? Because we don’t want to kill 26,000 of our own people per year. It’s that simple. Every rebut the other side would give would show they want to kill 26,000 people per year. That’s an impenetrable position.
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OK, if we lean into the “war” metaphor, then The Populist Plank is our battle strategy, offering six well-defined battlegrounds where we can make decisive gains. Sun Tzu’s principle of attacking weak points applies perfectly here—each plank targets areas where public outrage is high and corporate or political resistance is vulnerable.
Key Battlegrounds:
- No More Wars: By highlighting the cost of endless military interventions, we turn the focus to diplomacy and peacebuilding, undermining the war economy’s grip on policy. This reframes the narrative from “anti-war idealism” to protecting soldiers and taxpayers alike—bipartisan appeals that weaken opposition.
- Money Out of Politics: Sun Tzu said, “The opportunity of defeating the enemy is provided by the enemy himself.” Exposing corporate donations and special interest lobbying as bribes strikes at the heart of systemic corruption, uniting left and right populists who both despise “bought politicians.”
- Negotiate All Drug Prices: The healthcare crisis, with its staggering loss of life, is the system’s most visible weak point. Using personal stories of hardship and preventable deaths makes this fight emotionally compelling and politically inescapable.
- Ban Private Equity from Buying Residential Properties: Turning housing into a basic human right rather than a commodity rallies working families who feel the weight of the housing crisis. This is a fight for dignity, reframing opposition as prioritizing Wall Street profits over Main Street survival.
- Paid Family Leave: This plank strikes at economic injustice, showing that even in war, we must take care of our soldiers—working families—by ensuring they have time to recover and support their loved ones.
- Higher Wages: Sun Tzu reminds us to “animate the same spirit throughout all ranks.” Fighting for higher wages uplifts workers across industries and communities, building solidarity that transcends party lines.
Strategic Framing:
- Coalition-Building: Our “army” is the diverse coalition of Americans who already support these policies. By focusing on shared values—fairness, dignity, and accountability—we rally disillusioned conservatives, moderates, and progressives around common goals.
- Morality as a Weapon: Wars are won not only by attacking weaknesses but by owning the moral high ground. The Plank allows us to frame this as a fight for liberation from corruption and exploitation.
- Winning the Long Game: Each victory, no matter how small, builds momentum. By showcasing bipartisan support for these goals, we weaken the opposition’s ability to paint this as a partisan agenda.
In this “war,” The Populist Plank is not just a list of policies—it’s a tactical guide. If we fight with focus, integrity, and unrelenting determination, we can win battles that lead to systemic change. The question is, are we ready to deploy these strategies on every front?
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Wow, thank you for that great response! I absolutely agree with you. We want to make sure we have enough density in our attack. We must be careful not to stretch our time, manpower, and resources too thin by handling too many issues at once. Instead I think we should focus on the one issue that is holding up progress on all the other issues: #2 Money Out of Politics. If we can get money and greed out of our political system we can fix the other problems much easier.
IMO if we don’t get rid of money and greed in our political system we’re wasting our time trying to fix anything else.
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26,000 / 365 = 72 people per day, on average, die due to no health insurance.
Ch 5. Energy
Personally, I took from this chapter the importance of coordinating indirect and direct attacks in such a way which an attacking army gain the most momentum. I think the last passage somewhat sums it up:
5.23 “Thus the energy developed by good fighting men is as the momentum of a round stone rolled down a mountain thousands of feet in height…”
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I think that Sun Tzu would have cleverly seen through the fact that the Democrats and Republicans serve the same group of people, which is the rich and powerful. Yes, there are some differences between the two supposed sides, but differences that those above the law and above consequences can live with. It’s a Carnival Show full of misdirections and illusions. They are not really fighting amongst themselves, they are purposely dividing the majority of the population and getting them to vote against their best interests; and even if they begin to mobilize and don’t go with the plan, they have corrupted enough in power to keep change from truly happening either as a result of inaction or merely going against their campaign pledges and the will of their supporters, which we have observed time and time again. The problem though for them is that they are always having to contend with Reality such as Global Warming and how Wealth in too few hands ultimately leads to destruction, and they are seriously running out of time. Sun Tzu would wait, prepare, educate, train, and get ready to pounce when it all begins to come apart, which it, eventually, will. Even Authoritarianism has it’s historical limits. Oh, they will try this, but Trump and his minions pretend to represent Chaos while the Democrats pretend to be about Law and Order. It’s all a show and the plug that keeps it all alive is about to be pulled. What happens if AI (Artificial Intelligence) decides that wealth in too few hands is causing unacceptable damage? Perhaps, it will act before the Majority of the Population does; unless, of course, the computers are under water and the electrical grid has gone silent due to greed and severe weather.
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Well done! AI has spoken. Now we will see if it raids the Bank Accounts and Investments of the Wealthy Elite and redistributes the Wealth without their permission.
Best Wishes,
John Michael O’Neal
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Here’s a free link to the text: The Art of War
Maybe we can form like a little book club and talk about this text and how it applies to our movement. Team work makes the dream work!
I’m reading Chapter 4 now. It’s full of good stuff! I like this passage;
4.7: "You can be sure of succeeding in your attacks. If you only attack places which are undefended. You can ensure the safety of your defense if you only hold positions that cannot be attacked. "
We can see many weak points in our opposition which are ripe for attack. Right wingers wanting to ban the morning after pill is just a starter. Or how many people are dying every year due to avoidable illnesses, or state legislatures trying to force God down your kid’s throat. But remember, we have to attack ground we know to be weak. We must not only have a moral high ground but a desire to conquer the issues for which we are fighting.
The left should be the movement for healthcare, for human rights, for freeing the economic slaves. And we can do it if we intelligently and aggressively exploit the weaknesses of the enemy.
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That’s a great idea! We have a book club that’s just starting on GoodReads (@mggbwmn8 got it organized and running!). You totally should join it. We basically just started reading Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States–it’s a doozy, and haven’t met on Zoom yet. Maybe The Art of War could be our next selection. 
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